VodafoneZiggo wants employees to spend more time in the office. The telecom company has submitted a proposal to the works council to increase the number of office days from two to three per week. Employees who are unable or unwilling to comply will be offered a voluntary departure scheme. A spokesperson confirmed the proposal following a report by NU.nl.
VodafoneZiggo has found that employees who come to the office often still attend digital meetings because some colleagues are working from home.
“The added value of a day in the office remains limited,” the spokesperson said. “This can reinforce each other. If colleagues expect few people to be in the office, working from home can be a logical choice. As a result, the opportunity for meeting, collaboration and knowledge sharing in the office decreases.”
The proposal is now before the works council. VodafoneZiggo hopes the new working arrangements will take effect on 1 January 2027. Employees who do not want to continue under the new policy can use the voluntary departure scheme throughout January.
More than 6,000 people work at VodafoneZiggo.
Remote work policy
Several organisations are reviewing their policies on working from home. Last week, the Amsterdam court ruled that Booking.com may require employees to spend at least 40 per cent of their working hours in the office.
Previously, employees at the booking platform could decide for themselves how often they came to the office. Booking.com wanted to introduce a minimum requirement because employees were not coming in often enough. The works council opposed the change.
The number of days spent working from home is also being debated at ABN AMRO. According to the FNV trade union, the bank wants its new collective labour agreement to require employees to spend an average of half their working hours in the office.
FNV opposes the proposal and also considers the proposed pay increase too low. The union has therefore issued an ultimatum to ABN AMRO that expires on Tuesday morning.
The bank said its remote work policy is being discussed as part of the negotiations for a new collective labour agreement. ABN AMRO does not want to comment further while the talks are ongoing.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
