Review of FHI HRM Current Affairs Seminar: corona keeps people busy

It was inevitable: the corona pandemic played an important role as a recurring theme in the FHI HRM Current Affairs Seminar that, of necessity, took place online this year. And of course, the participants in the webinars received expert answers to the many questions.

Lara Smeets, who works at FHI partner Lexsigma Advocaten, immediately delved into depth during the opening of the day program with a presentation about the Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB). Smeets talked about, among other things, the new grounds for dismissal included in the law, as well as the situation with transition payments. The latter, for example, appear to be higher in practice. Furthermore, Smeets indicated that the legal uncertainty about on-call workers will largely be resolved with new legislation from Koolmees. Smeets also mentioned a number of example cases of dismissal.

The corona practice of working from home was highlighted with information about how employers can properly organize the phenomenon for their employees. After all, there is no legal right to work from home (yet), but companies can determine this themselves. Smeets also answered questions about how a good home workplace can be set up and she discussed other health and safety obligations. The final advice: as an employer, draw up a clear working from home arrangement.

Smeets also discussed how to deal with sick employees during corona times. The advice was to submit a clear report to the UWV. When changing employment conditions, for example necessary to allow a company to survive in difficult times, communication and reasonableness are especially important, Smeets said.

Even though unemployment is rising during this corona crisis, the demand for skilled personnel at technical companies is still high. Astrid Karsten, Sr. Consultant Agile & Talent Development, explained how companies can enable 'killer employee journeys'.

The third presentation of the day was provided by Roel van den Heuvel, HBR Pension and also FHI partner, and dealt with the new Pension Agreement. He outlined the extensive transformation of the pension system that will be rolled out in the Netherlands in the coming years and which obstacles still lie ahead.

Ewa Dieleman from iScreen addressed the question of how employees can be deployed more effectively within self-managing teams, while Ronald Klee from Arboned (FHI partner) addressed the question, again current due to corona, how we work in this 'new reality'. Because working from home certainly has advantages: employees often prove to be more productive, are less likely to be distracted and have no travel time or traffic jam stress. But many challenges arise for managers and employers.

The day was concluded by Inge Nuijten from Redpoint Company. She stated that companies that are sustainable and socially responsible are more appreciated by their customers and increase the chance of recruiting talent. Under the motto of 'servant leadership', Nuijten indicated how companies can capitalize on this attitude.

Iscreen, HBR, Arboned and LexSigma are all partners of FHI. For more information, see the following link with our business support services.