Pay for vacation days in the Collective Labor Agreement for Professional Goods Transport

A hot topic; remuneration of vacation days in the Collective Labor Agreement for Transport and Professional Goods Transport

At the Transport Seminar organized this month by Van Oers Accountancy & Advice, I spoke about the remuneration of vacation days in the Collective Labor Agreement for Transport and Professional Goods Transport. For many transport companies, this is a hot topic, about which there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty. This blog hopes to create more clarity about this.

What’s going on?

About a year ago, the remuneration of vacation days was placed high on the agenda during the collective labor agreement negotiations by the CNV trade union.

According to a press release from CNV, approximately 1,000 suspension letters were sent by union members/professional drivers to approximately 250 employers in the Professional Goods Transport sector in the first quarter of 2018.

In these pre-printed letters, retroactive claims were made for the ‘missed’ allowances and holiday pay for overtime in the Professional Goods Transport sector. After all, it was standard practice in the Professional Goods Transport sector that the compensation for a holiday day is equal to the basic wage.

The union members based their claim on a ruling by the European Court of Justice from 2011*, which determined that the pay for a holiday day must be equal to the pay for a working day.

The wage claims in the interruption letters related to five previous years and amounted to an average of around €600 to €1,200 per year.

Payment of vacation days CAO Transport and Logistics after January 1, 2019

Under pressure from several (test) procedures initiated by CNV members, the unions reached an agreement with TLN (Transport and Logistics Netherlands) on September 19, 2018 on the payment of vacation days with effect from January 1, 2019.

As of January 1, 2019, the average overtime and allowances will be part of the vacation pay. This agreement means a substantial and structural wage increase for the majority of Professional Goods Drivers. It is expected that the average wage costs will increase by 6.7% in 2019, partly due to this wage increase.

Agreements have also been made for the ‘missed’ wages over the period from 2014 to 2018. These agreements apply to employees who have been employed in the transport pay scale A to H throughout 2018 and have worked more than 100 hours entitled to benefits. This will be the majority of Professional Goods Drivers.

These Professional Goods Drivers can opt for a one-off compensation of €750 gross, which amount can be paid in three installments of €250.

This compromise is subject to criticism, because this arrangement is not binding for employees. The Professional Goods Driver is still entitled to claim the ‘missed’ overtime and benefits components over the period 2014-2018 from his employer. This means a lot of uncertainty for Transport employers.

What is the best thing for you to do as an employer in the Professional Goods Transport?

This question is not easy to answer, and will differ per transport company. For good advice, custom work is required. In general, the following points can be taken into account:

• First of all, it is wise to inventory the financial risks that are being run. The more overtime and allowances were paid out in the past, the greater the claims of individual employees will be;
• Also remember that ex-employees can claim lost wages during vacation days, as long as these claims have not expired. The limitation period for wage claims is 5 years, and can be interrupted with a single letter. After this, a new limitation period of 5 years starts;
• Offering a waiver, in which an employee/driver explicitly waives any wage claims and agrees to € 750 gross, is certainly worth considering. An employer must correctly and fully inform the driver of his legal position before signing such a declaration. This is to prevent a driver from subsequently invoking error. In the sense that the employee states that if he had been correctly represented, he would not have signed the declaration, or at least not under the same conditions. In that case, there is a risk that the waiver can be successfully annulled by the employee, after which a wage claim procedure is still initiated.

In short, good advice requires customization. Therefore, send an email to info@transportrechtadvocaat.nl or fill in the contact form below. In case of emergency, we are available 24/7! Please call 076 – 5204044.

Otto Lenselink

November 2018

* ECJ 15 September 2011, C-155/10, ECLI:EU:C:2011:588 (Williams v  British Airways)

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