PHOTO: Holland, Netherlands. Photo credit: Via Pexels.
We are back for another edition of What You Didn’t Know where we are headed to The Netherlands where we will be revealing some amazing things you didn’t know about working in this country.
The Netherlands has the shortest work week in the world at 29 hours per week. That’s a full 11 hours, or a day and a half shorter than in Canada.
In most cases in the world, employees suffer from working laws and most governments do little or nothing to protect the people who are responsible for the growth of the Gross National Product (GNP). But the case is quite different in the Netherlands, where there are so many laws which protect the employees.
According to Dutch law, one is allowed to work a maximum of 9 hours a day and 45 hours a week. However, a person is only allowed to work 2080 hours a year, thus the average working week is 40 hours.
The working week is usually Monday to Friday, depending on the type of work. Also, there is a legal minimum of one day’s rest a week, normally Sunday. Normal hours are 09 AM to 6 PM with two 15 minute breaks and an hour and a half lunch break. Many people don’t take breaks, eat their lunch at their desk and then leave at 5:00 pm instead of at 6:00 PM.
In terms of salaries, wages are average, compared to the rest of Europe. They are higher than in Spain and Italy, but lower than in England and Germany. The average salary is from €25,000 to €30,000 a year.
