'Flexible working is part and parcel of student life'

New labour market rules are on the way. For instance, zero-hour contracts will disappear and employees will get a permanent contract more quickly. The new rules do not apply to students with a side job, however.

But how do you check in practice whether someone is genuinely a student, several parties asked last Wednesday during the debate in the House of Representatives. Should employees perhaps check it with the Education Executive Agency (DUO)?

All young people?
Some of the opposition parties, DENK and the SP for example, feel that all young people ought to be able to benefit from the new rules. After all, students still have to pay rent, health insurance and groceries, said SP MP Bart van Kent. So the new rules would be beneficial to them too.

But VVD MP Bart Smals looked at it differently. “If an exam is coming up, a student might decide not to work at all for a while in order to study for that exam. Then a month later he might work twice as much because it’s more convenient for him. I want students to retain that freedom and to use it as it suits them.” His party would prefer it if flexible contracts were allowed up to a certain age.

Not for students
The debate continued on Thursday and Minister Karien van Gennip gave answers to the questions of the House of Representatives. An exception will be made for students and schoolchildren but not for young people in general, she explained. Once they stop studying they will be subject to the same rules as everyone else.

But Van Gennip does not plan to give students extra protection against flexible working. “I consider it a part of that stage of their life. Occasionally, employers need a lot of students, be it as shelf stackers or in the hospitality sector.”

And how do you check whether someone is genuinely a student? “The criterion is being enrolled at, let’s say, a university”, the Minister said. “That doesn’t make it easy for employers, but we will come up with something.”

Evening classes
DENK MP Stephan van Baarle saw a problem there: what do you do about people who are taking evening classes? Will they not benefit from the new rules, simply because they are studying again?

That is not the intention. The ‘principal activity’ of students is their study programme, Van Gennip responded, and according to her, they have a side job of up to 16 hours per week on average. “Someone who takes classes in the evening but who works a 40-hour week, is of course no longer a student.”

And an age limit, as the VVD would like? The Minister is not in favour of that. She wants to ensure that young people of around 23 who are no longer studying come under the new rules and get a ‘basic contract’.

Motions
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives is voting on a series of motions about the labour market. Little will change for students, although a motion by DENK asks for more talks to be held with young people and student organisations, “so as to achieve a balance between the desired flexibility for young people and providing them with certainty”.

Talks are fine, the Minister says. “But I want you to know in advance that we will go ahead with making an exception for students. I consider that really important. It’s part and parcel of student life.”