For more and more employees, sustainability and green employment conditions are decisive when choosing an employer. From research It appears that employees often see attention to sustainability and environmental awareness as the employer's duty of care.
To meet employees' expectations, it is wise to include green values in the general terms and conditions of employment. By doing so you not only contribute to the environment, but also comply with changing laws and regulations and judicial rulings, such as the
WHAT
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-reduction Work-related Personal Mobility
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What are green employment conditions?
When hiring a new employee it is important to make good agreements about terms and conditions of employment. For employees who like to make sustainable(er) choices, green employment conditions are interesting. Green employment conditions contribute to the sustainability of the organization, and enable the employee to express his values at his employer. What you as an employer can offer is:
A higher work-from-home allowance: an environmentally friendly solution. By providing a work-from-home allowance and helping employees set up their home workspace, it becomes attractive to work from home.
Promotion of the use of a bike plan: employees can their CO2-reduce emissions by cycling or walking more. It is possible to offer an electric bicycle through the work-related costs scheme (WKR).
A higher travel allowance for traveling by public transport: the NS trains run entirely on green electricity. The office location must be easily accessible by public transport.
A climate budget for housing sustainability: employees can, for example, insulate their home, install solar panels, install double glazing or purchase energy-efficient white goods.
How can you implement it?
There are a number of practical steps you can follow to implement green employment conditions:
Step 1Map out what your employees consider important and then see which green employment benefits align with that. There are several ways to offer green employment benefits: from the employees' choice budget, via the work-related costs scheme (WKR), or as a loan.
Step 2: Think carefully about how you want to implement the new terms of employment. This can be done, for example, through the collective labour agreement (CLA), by amending the employment contract, or through an employment terms arrangement. It is important to bear in mind that you may not suddenly change employment terms unilaterally. Think carefully about how you want to introduce these green employment terms within the organization and which laws and regulations you need to take into account.
Step 3:
Employer branding
: communicate externally that the organization considers sustainability important and which green employment benefits you offer.
What are the benefits?
Green employment conditions bring some advantages for your organization:
Smaller ecological footprint: green employment conditions are good for the climate and the environment. With green employment conditions you can the CO2-reduce emissions of your staff.
Positive image: employers who embrace green employment terms are attractive on the labor market to candidates who value sustainability.
Long-term cost savings: by making employment conditions more sustainable you as an employer can save costs. The level of travel costs and allowances can be reduced by travelling to the workplace less often or by using a bicycle or public transport.
Satisfied and engaged employees: more and more employees attach importance to their employer's sustainability policy. With green terms of employment you attract idealistic employees, who often stay with the organization longer.
