New laws in the Netherlands as of 2022

New year, new laws! Also this year new laws will come into force that may be of interest to you. In this article we will give you a short overview of a selection of laws that come into force in 2022.

Fair web shops

As of the 28th of May web shops and online platforms have to comply with certain rules. They have to offer their customers more and better information about online reviews, price discounts and personalized offers. If a web shop or online platform makes use of online reviews, it will have the obligation to inform its consumers on how the authenticity of these reviews are being checked. There will be a ban on submitting fake consumer reviews and on having these submitted on your website or platform. In addition, it is no longer permitted to make arbitrary ‘from-for’ price offers. When a web shop advertises a discount, it should assume the lowest price used at least 30 days prior to the discount offer. Finally, the web shop must inform customers about a personalized offer based on search behavior, purchase history or other characteristics.

Paid parental leave

Following European legislation parents are able to make use of the paid parental leave scheme. At the moment, parental leave is still unpaid, but because of this new law that is about to change. Parents will be entitled up to 26 weeks of parental leave, including 9 weeks partially paid and 17 weeks unpaid. This law will apply to employees in all sectors. This new law will come into force on the 2nd of August 2022.

Allowance working from home

The government has decided to introduce compensation for working from home. This tax-free home working allowance will be of up to 2 euros a day. Due to corona many employees have started to work partly from home and so employees and employers want clear agreements among this subject. Working from home involves additional costs such as heating, coffee and tea, electricity and toilet paper. With this allowance, employers can compensate their employees.

Female quota corporate boards

As from the 1st of January, there will be a quota that stipulates that at least one third of the supervisory board at listed companies in the Netherlands must be female. In the event a seat becomes vacant on the supervisory board of a company that does not yet comply with the quota, this seat must be filled by a woman until the target is reached. If the seat will be filled by a man, this appointment is annulled.

Energy label rating

From now on it will be compulsory for sellers and landlords to show the energy label rating in advertisements when selling or renting out the house or building. So in the event when an advertisement is placed on the website of the real estate agent or on Funda, the energy label rating has to be shown. Otherwise the seller or landlord can be fined by the Inspection Environment and Transport (ILT). The amount of this fine will be 435 euros for private sellers per house or building without an energy label. If a company sells a house without a final energy label, the fine is 870 euros.

Hiding home addresses Dutch Commercial Register

Good news for entrepreneurs: as of 1st of January 2022 the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK) will hide home addresses of entrepreneurs and directors in the Dutch Commercial Register (Handelsregister). So from now it will be no longer possible for individuals or other entrepreneurs to see these home addresses. These hidden home addresses will only be shown to government organisations or specific professions that have legal authorisation, such as: the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, lawyers or bailiffs.

This was only a selection of new laws that will come into force in 2022. Do you want further information about any of these new laws? Do not hesitate and contact one of our experienced lawyers.