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Mirjam A. de Blécourt

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Mirjam de Blécourt is one of Europe’s leading labour and employment lawyers, consistently ranked by top legal directories and clients for her expertise in complex board-level and cross-border employment matters.
She advises the boards of multinational companies on labour law matters in the broadest sense, including governance, executive exits, sensitive investigations and strategic reorganisations. Mirjam heads Baker McKenzie’s Amsterdam Employment & Pensions practice, serves on the Firm’s EMEA+ Board, and holds positions on several NGO boards. She is the founder of the “De Blécourt Method” for collective dismissals and a former Dutch senator (2019–2023).

A legislative proposal has been introduced to implement the ‘Pay Transparency Directive’ in the Netherlands. On 26 March 2025, the internet consultation for this proposal was launched and will conclude on 7 May 2025. Following this, a decision will be made on whether, and in what form, the bill will be submitted to the House of Representatives. The intended implementation date for the bill is 7 June 2026.

The Dutch government and the Dutch tax authorities recently outlined their approach to enforcing rules against false self-employment, with significant changes set to take effect on 1 January 2025. This news alert highlights the criteria under which the current rules will be enforced, the motions adopted to ensure a smoother transition to the new enforcement regime, and the key takeaways for organizations.

Defining, identifying and addressing inappropriate workplace behavior is increasingly a business-critical issue. Although local differences apply, many jurisdictions have similar legal requirements for protection of employees. This article explores the current legal framework, as well as the risks and litigation landscape, in the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Although things seemed to be going badly for a while and a deal looked unlikely, the EU Parliament and the Council of the EU have finally reached an agreement on the proposed Platform Workers Directive (the “Directive”). This time, it looks likely to progress to adoption and, ultimately, implementation across the EU member states. 

The Directive aims to improve the working conditions of individuals performing work for a digital labor platform.

On 12 June 2023, after lengthy negotiations, the Council of the EU agreed on the proposal for a directive that aims to better protect platform workers. This opens the door to negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament on the final directive. The directive aims to ensure that platform workers have or can obtain the appropriate employment status through the introduction of a legal presumption. In addition, the directive provides for rules regarding the transparency of the use of algorithms within the platform economy.