"Zelfinspectie.nl: checklists for employers" awarded as exemplary practice. The recognition was presented during the ELA Annual conference 2024.
The European Labour Authority awarded the Netherlands Labour Authority for their exemplary practice ‘Zelfinspectie.nl: checklists for employers’ allowing the Dutch employers to have the possibility to look at their companies as an inspector does and making legislation accessible to them.
Employers can answer questionnaires which cover five different areas:
Based on the responses, the employers receive an action checklist, highlighting areas for improvement to meet national legal requirements. Currently, the checklists are promoted in various sectors but particularly in the construction sector where the risks regarding decent work, health & safety and hazardous substances are higher.
In 2011, the Netherlands Labour Authority (NLA) discovered that numerous employers were not compliant with the law due to the lack of information. Therefore, between 2011 and 2012 the NLA launched checklists for employers website, where they can do a self-inspection to see if they are compliant with the national law. The aim was to create a user-friendly and accessible site. It focused especially on small and medium-sized companies who were willing to, but not able to abide by the law. The website received a new revamped version in 2020 to make it even more concise and user-friendly.
This innovative practice is a good example on how digital approach, user-friendliness and accessibility can empower employers for self-assessment in compliance with national law. This contributes to safer, healthier and fairer work environment for the workers.
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The call for good practices is a recurring initiative first launched by ELA in June 2022. The purpose of the call is to exchange, disseminate and uptake good practices and knowledge collected by Member States and other stakeholders that operate at the national, regional or local level, including social security institutions, civil society and social partner organisations. Each annual call has a specified deadline for submission of good practices. Each year there is a different set of priorities.
The findings from the calls are anticipated to contribute to the effective application and enforcement of EU labour mobility law within the EU, by encouraging good practice exchange, and their potential further application by Member States.
