How do I request home working or another work location?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
You can request a different workplace in writing, such as partly working from home. This is not an unlimited right to choose your own location. The employer must assess and discuss the request; check conditions, deadlines, safety and any cross-border consequences.
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1. What conditions apply?
The ordinary Dutch route requires at least 26 weeks' employment and an employer with ten or more staff. The headcount threshold does not apply to requests to care for children under eight or provide informal care. With special positions such as pgb work, first check the applicable rules. You may also propose agreements outside the statutory route.
2. What belongs in the request?
Write at least two months before the intended start. State location, start, any end date and home/office distribution. Identify separately any change to contractual hours or working times: refusal tests differ. Explain duties, availability and handovers concretely.
3. When must the employer respond?
The employer must consult and decide in writing at least one month before the intended start. The statutory route provides adjustment as requested if no timely decision occurs. First verify applicability, receipt and completeness; have a dispute assessed before staying away without coordination.
4. Can the employer refuse?
Work-location requests do not create an automatic right to home working: a reasoned refusal may concern safety or duties. Changing working duration or times involves the stricter compelling business/service-interest test. Request specific reasons and discuss a limited or temporary alternative.
5. What about home and overseas working?
The employer remains responsible for safe, ergonomic home working and instructions; you must use equipment correctly. Agree equipment, costs, data security and availability. Working from another country can alter social insurance: consult SVB and check tax where needed beforehand. Dutch approval is not a foreign work/residence permit.
6. How do I record the outcome?
Keep request, receipt and decision. Normally a year must pass after approval/refusal before another request, with exceptions for the stated caring tasks. A temporary change allows return to the previous pattern afterwards. Calculate pay/pension separately if hours change. This draft sends nothing and does not amend your contract.
Draft request: How do I request home working or another work location?
Complete the facts and check the applicable rules. This draft sends nothing and is not legal approval.
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Can I start working abroad on my own initiative?
Not merely because home working is allowed. Agree the exact location and check social insurance, tax and residence/work rights. Temporary and structural cross-border working can have different consequences.
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View the current application processSources
Need personal assistance? Request a lawyer through our chat. We explain the next step; submitting a request does not engage a lawyer. The links below support the legal information.
Rijksoverheid — arbeidsplaats ↗Rijksoverheid — arbeidsduur ↗Rijksoverheid — werktijden ↗Rijksoverheid — veilige thuiswerkplek ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.