PVT, OR, OC, COR and GOR: what do these abbreviations mean?

As an employee, you have a say in how things are arranged or decided within the organisation. The Works Council Act (WOR) lays down how this happens, for example through a PVT, (joint) Works Council, OC, COR or GOR. But what do all these abbreviations actually mean? Here is a brief explanation.

(almost every link in this text leads to the specific articles of the Dutch WOR on our website, for the translated articles please see the English WOR translated by the SER)

– klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie van deze tekst –

employee participation

The Dutch Works Councils Act (or WOR in Dutch) is a law that describes how organisations are obliged to organise employee participation in their organisation. These are rules with which every organisation in the Netherlands must comply. The number of employees and the organisation’s design determine how and in which form the employee participation is organised by law.

when should there be employee participation?

In organisations of 10 employees or more, employee participation takes the form of an employee representative body (In Dutch ‘PVT’ which is an abbreviation of ‘Personeelsvertegenwoordiging’). In organisations with 50 employees or more, employee participation takes place in the form of a Works Council (in Dutch ‘OR’ which is an abbreviation of ‘ondernemingsraad’).

The responsibility for setting up a PVT or Works Council lies with the management board (or, as it is called in the WOR, the Bestuurder (Director)). However, this requires the employees to have at least some interest to take part in a PVT or Works Council. The board must do its best, as stated in the WOR, to encourage employees to participate in the Works Council.

The board must take the initiative to set up a Works Council if a group of employees specifically requests it. In practice, you often notice that the board immediately asks such a group to organise the (first) Works Council elections (Dutch).

Therefore, we present this overview of the abbreviations for the forms of participation in organisations; each term is complete with the conditions/composition and organisation/rights and powers.

+ Personeelsvertegenwoordiging / PVT (employee representative body)

conditions
Organisations with more than 10 and less than 50 employees are required to establish staff representation. A PVT can be set up voluntarily in case an organisation has less than 10 employees.

composition and organisation
The PVT consists of at least 3 employees* who have been employed for more than 6 months and have been elected (through a secret/anonymous vote) by all employees.

rights and powers
A PVT has fewer rights/powers than a Works Council (OR). However, the management board must provide the PVT with all the required information to do its job properly. The PVT also chooses one of themselves as a chairperson, receives PVT facilities and is enabled to do its work during working hours. The PVT has the right to consent to changes in working and rest times and regulations in working conditions, absenteeism and reintegration policies. In addition, the PVT must be consulted for advice on job losses and essential changes in working conditions and/or working situations.

+ ondernemingsraad / OR (Works Council)

conditions
If an enterprise has at least 50 employees*, it must set up a Works Council. In addition, an entrepreneur can set up a Works Council for several separate parts of 50 employees. This means that a company can have multiple Works Councils.

composition and organisation
The WOR states how many members a Works Council must have. The Works Council elects a chairperson and draws up its own rules of procedure. The number of Works Council members depends on the number of employees in an organisation. The WOR has a list for this.

rights and powers
The Works Council has the right of consent and the right to consult about many subjects. The board must have permission or has asked for advice before the decisions are taken. The Works Council Act (WOR) contains an overview of subjects that require consent and advice.

In addition, the Works Council is entitled to information. That is stated in various articles of the WOR, for example, in WOR Article 31 and beyond.

+ onderdeelcomissie / OC (committee relating to a part of the enterprise)

conditions
A Works Council has the right to set up different types of committees to make the work of the Works Council easier and to organise employee participation better. For example, the Works Council can set up a committee for a particular subject (standing committee) to prepare something (preparatory committee) or for a specific part of the organisation (‘onderdeelcommissie’ or committee relating to a part of the enterprise).

composition and organisation
For a standing committee (e.g., a working conditions committee or VGWM committee, a financial committee, etc.) or a committee relating to a part of the enterprise (onderdeelcommissie/OC), the Works Council can decide to set up any such committee (in Dutch ‘instellingsbesluit’). In that decision, the Works Council must determine, among other things, the purpose/tasks of the OC, how the members are elected and what the rights of the OC are. An OC can only include members of the Works Council and employees working in that part of the organisation.

In practice, committees relating to a part of the enterprise are often set up for ‘clearly distinguishable parts of the organisation’. For example, a business unit at a completely different location or a business unit that performs completely different activities than the other parts of the organisation.

rights and powers
A committee relating to a part of the enterprise (OC) can have all the rights of a Works Council that the Works Council is willing to transfer. However, the Works Council may also decide to retract these rights at any moment, or even to cancel the OC altogether.

You will often see a Works Council giving an OC the authority to consult with the person in charge of that particular part of the organisation: being the manager or director who is allowed to make independent decisions on that part of the organisation. Thus, all rights and powers of the Works Council are transferred to the OC. This even applies to legal cases if the Works Council mentions this specifically in the decision to set up this committee.

+ gemeenschappelijke ondernemingsrad (Joint Works Council)

conditions
If an organisation has more than one company, and those companies jointly have more than 50 employees, the organisation can set up a joint Works Council.

composition and organisation
That can mean that there will be effectively one Works Council for several organisations.

However, according to Article 4 of the WOR, the entrepreneur can also decide the opposite: if all companies together have more than 50 employees in total, a separate Works Council may be set up for a particular part of the company (or companies).

rights and powers
For a Joint Works Council or a Works Council for a part of the organisation with less than 50 employees, all rules, rights and obligations apply as they apply to a ‘regular’ Works Council according to the WOR.

+ Centrale Ondernemingsraad / COR (Central Works Council)

conditions
If an organisation has set up two or more Works Councils, it is mandatory to set up a central Works Council (COR) if that ‘is conducive to the proper application of this act [WOR]‘.

composition and organisation
A COR consists of representations of elected members of the underlying Works Councils. The number of COR members is determined by the COR itself in its rules of procedure. The COR also determines whether if representatives of business components without a Works Council get a seat in the COR.

rights and powers
A COR has all the rights and powers of a Works Council. But these apply only to the issues of ‘common interest’. This is often explained in practice as: ‘as soon as it concerns two or more Works Councils’. So, in situations of common interest, the COR is a Works Council. When it comes to matters that concern only one of the underlying Works Councils, the rights and powers remain with that Works Council.

point of attention: when creating a COR, all Work Councils must agree when and in what situations what rights and powers are transferred to the COR.

+ Groepsondernemingsraad / GOR (Group Works Council)

conditions
If an organisation has set up two or more Works Councils, they can decide to set up a group Works Council (GOR) for some of these Works Councils if that ‘is conducive to the proper application of this act [WOR]’.

composition and organisation/rights and powers
Everything that applies to a COR is the same for a GOR in terms of composition, representation, number of members, etc. The same also applies to the powers of the GOR. It is even recorded in the same WOR articles 33, 34 and 35.

the difference between a COR and a GOR
If an enterprise has two or more Works Councils, these are represented in a central Works Council (COR).

If two or more (but not all) Works Councils have many similarities, but many differences with other Works Councils, it can be decided that these Works Councils together form a Group Works Council (GOR).

So, if there are more than two Works Councils within an organisation, some of them can together form a Group Works Council (GOR); all Works Councils and the group Works Council together can also have a Central Works Council (COR).

Some examples of possible situations:

an organisation has three Works Councils, two have a group Works Council together, and there is no central Works Council
an organisation has three Works Councils, two together have a group Works Council, and together the group Works Council and Works Council have a central Works Council
an organisation has three Works Councils, and there is no central Works Council
an organisation has three Works Councils, and together they have a central Works Council

confusing? we can imagine…

In this article, we have tried to provide clarity. However, there are many different possibilities in practice. Likely, the situations we have described here will probably not exactly match your organisation or your Works Council.

We would be happy to visit you so that we can offer our help and explain matters further. Invite us over for a cup of coffee, and we will discuss how we can best support you.

* These examples count all employees, regardless of the number of hours they work

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.