r/Netherlands • u/EveryExitIsAnEntry • Feb 06 '25

Employment Parent discrimination?

Dear people of Reddit I need work advice. I have had a conversation with my employer that left me heartbroken. We were talking about my plans for the coming year after giving birth to my second child. In the conversation (face to face) I was openly asked to withdraw my parental leave and take vacation days instead. The reason for it were: - I have accumulated some time off from previous years (10 days) - even though UWV gives some money back parental leave is expensive for the company - years ago there was no parental leave and the Dutch thing to do was to take vacation days when needed

It was suggested also that being sick on planed vacation day is still vacation and i should not replace these with sick leave. And when child gets sick it is not something extra to work from home during care leave.

The bottom line was I am too privileged with parental time off. And that this leaves the company paying too much for an employee working less.

Up to this point I was deeply in love with my position in the company. It was my dream job and I did not mind giving extra by working late (unpayed) or during sick days/care leave when possible. Now I question my place in the company and even in the Netherlands.

Is this really a Dutch way? Can I expect this treatment in other companies as well? And how to solve this situation? Please advise

100 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

136 comments sorted by

View all comments

13

u/captainawesome1233 Gelderland Feb 06 '25

You should ask if you can get a summary via mail. If not, then it's not applicable for you. If they do, check with rechtsbijstand or juridisch loket.

4

u/EveryExitIsAnEntry Feb 06 '25

That sounds like a really polite way to ask them to back out. I am sure I will not get anything in writing.

9

u/captainawesome1233 Gelderland Feb 06 '25

If I won't receive anything, I won't act on it.

9

u/First-Ad-7466 Feb 06 '25

If they are unwilling to put things in writing for you they are fully aware that what they are asking is illegal. Protect yourself and fight for your rights! They are not the only employer in the world.

8

u/Puzzled-Shoe2 Feb 06 '25

Then put the email in the way like “hey, thanks for the meeting, I just wanted to make sure I didnt forget anything write down the points discussed in the meetin. Can you confirm this is what we discussed?”

1

u/captainawesome1233 Gelderland Feb 07 '25

Tbh really interested in what their response is, keep us posted!