consultation between the Works Council and the Bestuurder: what is required?

The Works Council and the Bestuurder are consultation partners. They are even required to do so in certain situations, according to various laws and regulations. In addition, as counsellors and advisers of Works Councils, we notice that there are not only “official” consultations. We have set out what must and what can be done – an overview.

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consultation = a collective name

In our Dutch culture of talking and reaching an agreement, consultation is a natural step. The word ‘consultation’ is a collective name for all kinds of ’talking together’: meetings, informal conversations, catch-up meetings, working consultations, etc.

When it comes to Works Councils, and in this article, we use the word ‘consultation’ for the following meetings between the Works Council and the Bestuurder: 

• official consultation: the Consultation Meeting (CM), in accordance with the WOR
• informal consultation.

official consultation: the Consultation Meeting (CM)

There are several moments when the Works Council and the Bestuurder are required to have an official consultation with each other. The WOR contains several articles that discuss and lay down the requirements for consultation meetings. These articles state why and when the Works Council and the Bestuurder should have a Consultation Meeting.

Consultation Meeting – the term

The term “consultation meeting” is used literally in Article 23, paragraph 2 of the WOR (Dutch). 

The first part of Article 23 states that “the Works Council and the Bestuurder shall meet within 14 days of either party having submitted a request for a consultation meeting to be held and having stated the reasons for desiring such a meeting”. The second part of Article 23 states: “Consultation meetings as mentioned in paragraph (1) …”‘

Consultation Meeting – agenda and meeting minutes

Next, Article 23a, paragraph 6 WOR (Dutch) states that the Works Council and the Bestuurder shall make an agenda for the Consultation Meeting together. The agenda topics of the consultation meeting can be submitted by the Bestuurder and/or the Works Council. 

The meeting minutes of the consultation meeting must be approved by the Bestuurder and the Works Council (Article 23a, paragraph 4 WOR) (Dutch).

The content of the meeting minutes and the agreements it contains (between the Works Council and the Bestuurder) are binding agreements for both parties.

In summary, this means that the Consultation Meeting is only a Consultation Meeting if there is an agenda and meeting minutes are created.

Consultation Meetings – number of meetings

There is no indication of the exact number of Consultation Meetings required in the WOR (except for those mentioned below in WOR Articles 23 and 24).

The Works Council and the Bestuurder must mutually agree on the number of consultation meetings. However, the frequency or number of consultation meetings must be such that the Works Council can carry out the Works Council work independently and adequately. In addition, the number/frequency of the consultation meetings depends on what is happening in the organisation: are there many or few organisational changes? 

In addition, the number or frequency also depends on what the Works Council and Bestuurder want their cooperation to be: only influence the formal planned decision or interact and consult to arrive at the best decision. The latter, in particular, means more consultation meetings.

mandatory Consultation Meetings

The WOR does not dictate the number of Consultation Meetings to be held, but several WOR articles contain mandatory elements to be discussed (in a Consultation Meeting).

mandatory: wage structures

The Works Council and the Bestuurder are required (Article 23, paragraph 2 WOR(Dutch)) to have a Consultation Meeting at least once a year to discuss the wage structures (Article 31d WOR (Dutch)).

mandatory: discussion of ‘general affairs’

The Works Council and the Bestuurder must discuss the general affairs of the organisation according to Article 24 WOR (Dutch), the so-called Article 24 meeting, at least twice a year. 

This meeting should discuss the preparations for upcoming requests for advice and consent, and how the Works Council will be involved in that decision-making. 

This Article 24 meeting takes place between the Works Council and the Bestuurder, in the presence of the Supervisory Board or an equivalent body.

mandatory: in the case of requests for advice and consent

In addition, a Consultation Meeting is required to discuss a request for consent ( Article 27, paragraph 2 WOR (Dutch)) and a request for advice (Article 25, paragraph 4 WOR (Dutch). After the Works Council has received a request for consent or advice, there must be at least one Consultation Meeting in which this request for advice or consent is discussed; that cannot be done during one and the same Consultation Meeting.

After that Consultation Meeting, the Works Council can, during their own Works Council meeting, decide (and write down) what the Works Council’s advice or consent will be.

Consultation Meetings – the chairperson

The Consultation Meeting cannot be held until the provisions of the Works Council rules have been complied with (Article 23a, paragraph 1 WOR (Dutch)). Unless otherwise agreed, the Bestuurder and the Works Council’s chairperson will take turns chairing the consultation meetings (Article 23a, paragraph 2 WOR (Dutch)).

It is often wise to decide together that the Works Council’s chairperson is always the chairperson of the Consultation Meeting, which means that the Works Council has more influence on the content and form of the Consultation Meetings.

Consultation Meetings – guests

The Works Council and the Bestuurder can both invite guests (external or internal experts) to attend the Consultation Meeting (Article 23a, paragraph 6 WOR (Dutch)).

Consultation Meetings – decision-making

The Works Council or the Bestuurder can make decisions during the Consultation Meeting. The chairperson of the meeting can suspend the meeting if the Bestuurder or the Works Council wants to deliberate about a subject separately (Article 23b WOR (Dutch)).

informal consultation / agenda meeting

In addition to the official consultation meetings, many Works Councils, or the Executive Board (EB) of the Works Council, also have informal consultation meetings with the Bestuurder. This is a consultation without minutes where problems and solutions are discussed amicably with each other.

The informal consultation is often given a ‘formal look’: an informal consultation between the Works Council and the EB to jointly discuss and define the content of the agenda of the consultation meeting. This is a so-called Agenda Meeting; it is a ‘natural’ but organised moment for an informal consultation before a Consultation Meeting.

The number of informal consultations, and who attends, depends entirely on the wishes of the Works Council and the Bestuurder, but is determined mainly by the organisation’s culture.

Note: Please note that we are a Dutch organisation and that all our information is originally composed in Dutch. For the benefit of our English-speaking customers we have translated some of our online information. We are still in the process of translating even more of our information. It could therefore be that you will come across Dutch pages on CT2.nl. Please contact us if you would like more information.