Working from home: your employees' rights

What is working from home and hybrid working?

Employees who work from home often work partly from home and partly in the office or from another location. This is known as hybrid working. This can also be from abroad.

There are several reasons for hybrid or remote working. For example, because employees are more productive at home. Or because they can combine work and private life better. Lower office costs can also be a reason to let staff work from home more often. You then need less office space.

Read more about the advantages of hybrid working.

Remote working

Some employees work entirely from home. Those workers do the work at home that they would normally do in the office or a workplace together with colleagues. This is called teleworking or remote working. Do your employees work for your business remotely from another country? If so, this may affect your employees' social insurance. For employees who meet the conditions, you can apply for an exception to the European rules.

Draw up an RI&E for working from home

As an employer, you are obliged to do a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E). To make sure that your employees can work healthily and safely. Include the risks of working from home in the RI&E. Keep in mind that working from home involves different risks than when your employees work in the office. Such as the extra strain that employees can experience by combining work and other commitments at home.

Are employees entitled to work from home?

Working from home is not a legal right. However, according to the Flexible Working Act, your employees may submit a written request to work (partly) from home. For example, because they are concerned about their health. You must have a good reason for refusing such a request.

Examples of good reasons are:

• Working from home causes problems with the work schedule.
• The work cannot be done elsewhere.
• The home workplace is not safe or suitable for work.

There are also conditions for employees who want to work from home:

• The company must have a minimum of 10 employees.
• The employee must have been employed for at least six months.
• The employee must submit a written request no later than 2 months before the desired start date.

Working conditions law for working from home

Employees must also be able to do their work safely and properly at home. That is why health and safety rules apply to working from home. For example, you must provide information about how your employees can work safely and healthily. And provide a good and safe home workplace. You can, for instance, offer ergonomic work equipment, such as an ergonomic keyboard or office chair.

The employee is also responsible for the home workplace

Your employee is also responsible for a healthy and safe home working environment. For example, by using the information and resources provided by the employer.

Allowance for working from home

When employees work from home, they have additional costs that they do not have at the office. More costs for heating, water, electricity, and also tea, coffee, and toilet paper. You can reimburse these costs tax-free with a working-from-home allowance (thuiswerkvergoeding) of €2.35 per day in 2024. This is indexed annually.

Can you monitor employees when they work from home?

You are not allowed to just check your employees. Only under certain conditions may you check employees who work from home. Monitoring your employees must be important. That is, you cannot achieve your goal in any other way. You must also let employees know in advance that you are checking. And how you are checking.

Employees have a right to privacy. You must always comply with the privacy law. You must also be able to clearly explain why monitoring is necessary. And why the interests of the company outweigh the privacy of your employees. This may differ from case to case.

Read more about the monitoring of employees (in Dutch) at the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

Consider information security

Working from home remotely creates risks to the security of company information. These risks are different from when your employee only works in the office. For example, if your employee uses their own mobile phone, this could be a risk. Because the security settings are not as good as those on a company phone. It is also important that your employees know that there are risks.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recommends taking extra measures to prevent a data breach, for example. Create a clear policy. Then everyone will know what is and is not allowed. For example, you can make the following agreements:

• Use strong passwords.
• Do not leave computers unattended, not even at home.
• Make sure the network is safe, with secure connections.
• Install security software, such as anti-virus software.
• Make agreements on which apps and services your employees are allowed to use.

Read more about security when working from home.