Special leave for care responsibilities arranged according to CAO again
From 1 September 2020 onwards, leave for care responsibilities will once again be granted by NWO-I in accordance with the applicable CAO provisions.
Now that schools and childcare have restarted safely again, there is no longer any reason to arrange special leave independent of the CAO regulations. We kindly request employees to assess their situation with effect from 1 September 2020 and to arrange any extra childcare or other help needed before that time. Should any exceptional problems occur with respect to this, then employees can of course discuss these with their line manager or personnel adviser.
Shortly after the coronavirus outbreak, employees could make agreements with their line manager about combining work and care responsibilities during this exceptional period. The guiding principle for this was that employees, independent of the existing CAO arrangements, received paid special leave for the time they devoted to care responsibilities. That is no longer necessary now that primary schools, secondary schools, out-of-school care and day-care centres for the elderly will fully and safely open again after the summer holiday.
In the event that the Netherlands once again unexpectedly finds itself in an extraordinary situation like it did in the Spring of this year, where an exceptional call is made upon employees and their private situation, for example due to the announcement of a second Coronavirus lockdown, then the aforementioned regulations will of course be re-examined.