Chapter VII B Special provisions for Works Councils in the Public Sector
Article 46d
In the case of an enterprise in which work is carried out exclusively or almost exclusively on the basis of a public-law employment contract, the following special provisions shall apply:
a For the purposes of this Act, the term ‘director’ shall not include the following:
1 In the case of a ministry: The Minister or a junior minister [staatssecretaris];
2 In the case of a province: The Queen’s Commissioner, a member of the Provincial Executive or a Provincial Councillor;
3 In the case of a municipality: The Mayor, a member of the Municipal Executive or a Municipal Councillor;
4 In the case of a water board: The Chairman, a member of the Executive Committee or a member of the Board of Management;
5 In the case of either house of the Dutch parliament: The Speaker or a Member of Parliament;
6 In the case of the Council of State: The Vice-President or a State Councillor;
7 In the case of the Netherlands Court of Audit: The President or a member of the Court of Audit;
8 In the case of the office of the National Ombudsman: The National Ombudsman or a Deputy Ombudsman.
b In applying Article 23, paragraph (2), ‘matters relating to the enterprise’ shall not include the establishment of tasks of public bodies or parts thereof by public law, nor policy relating to or the implementation of the said tasks, except insofar as the same have consequences for the activities of the employees.
c In any application of (b) in the district courts, courts of appeal, the Central Appeals Tribunal [Centrale Raad van Beroep] and the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal [College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven], ‘matters relating to the enterprise’ shall not include policy with respect to the implementation of the judicial duties mentioned in Article 23, paragraphs (2) and (3), of the Judiciary (Organisation) Act [Wet op de rechterlijke organisatie] except to the extent that they relate to consequences thereof for the activities of the persons working in the enterprise.
d The powers vested by this Act in the Council (SER) as mentioned in Articles 5, 8 paragraphs (2) and (3), Articles 37, 38, 39 and 41, paragraph (2), shall be exercised by the Minister of Internal Affairs.
e In applying Article 38, paragraph (1), one or more Ministers may be designated in addition to a representative organisation or employers’ organisations.
f Apart from the power mentioned in Article 46a, the powers of the Council (SER) to issue decrees, shall not extend to enterprises in which work is carried out exclusively or almost exclusively on the basis of a public-law employment contract.
g If, pursuant to (d), the Minister of Internal Affairs has set up a Joint Sectoral Committee, this Committee shall, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 40, paragraph (1), submit an annual report to the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Minister of Internal Affairs shall submit the said report to the relevant employers or employers’ organisations and those central organisations for public-sector personnel that fall within the Council for Public Sector Personnel Policy.
h Petitions as mentioned in Articles 27 and 36 pertaining to a court of law may be heard and ruled upon by the subdistrict court judge working at the court within the same jurisdiction which is mentioned first in the Judiciary (Territorial Division) Act [Wet op de rechterlijke indeling]. If the court to which the petition pertains is itself “the court within the same jurisdiction which is mentioned first in the Judiciary (Territorial Division) Act [Wet op de rechterlijke indeling]”, the petitions may be heard and ruled upon by the subdistrict court judge working at the district court within the same jurisdiction which is mentioned second in the Judiciary (Territorial Division) Act [Wet op de rechterlijke indeling].
i Any appeal as mentioned in Article 26, paragraph (1), pertaining to the Court of Appeal at Amsterdam, shall be submitted to the Court of Appeal at The Hague.
Article 46e
- The powers granted to the Minister of Internal Affairs mentioned in Article 46d shall be exercised only after consultation with the relevant employers or employers’ organisations and the central organisations for public-sector personnel that fall within the Council for Public-Sector Personnel Policy [Raad voor het Overheidspersoneelsbeleid].
- In consultations as mentioned in (1), central organisations for public-sector personnel policy shall command the same number of votes as the relevant employers or employers’ organisations.
- A decision by the Minister of Internal Affairs on matters as mentioned in Article 8, paragraphs (2) and (3) and Article 39 of this Act shall require the endorsement of two-thirds of the participants in a meeting as mentioned in paragraph (1). A decision by the Minister of Internal Affairs on matters as mentioned in Articles 5, 37, 38 and 41, paragraph (2), shall require the endorsement of a majority of the participants in a meeting as mentioned in paragraph (1).
