Costs of Engaging an Expert by the Works Council
Section 22 of the WOR prescribes that any expenses reasonably
required for the performance of the duties of the Works Council
shall be borne by the employer. Subsection 2 of that Section adds
that the costs of consultation of an expert by the Works Council
shall be borne by the employer only if he was given advance
information on the costs to be incurred.
A dispute that was recently heard by the Subdistrict Court in
Delft concerned a situation in which the employer, after completion
of the advisory procedure, refused to pay (part of) the costs
because in his opinion the Works Council had not timely informed
him of the expected costs, and he had not consented to the amount
of the costs either.
The Facts
At the end of January 2008 the employer presented a request for
advice to the Works Council about the projected transfer of a
branch office to a third party. Two months later, on 1 April 2008,
the Works Council requested an expert to advise it about this
request for advice. That same day the Works Council informed the
employer thereof and of the (expected) costs involved. The
employer's only reply was that he wished to receive an advice
from the Works Council on 14 April 2008. In view of the time
pressure this caused, the expert engaged started his assignment
immediately. The Works Council still forwarded an offer stating the
costs of the expert on 16 April 2008, but this was not replied
to.
However, after the advisory procedure had been completed, the
employer refused to pay (part of) the costs, since the Works
Council had not informed him of the expected costs in time and he
had not given consent for the amount of the costs
either.
Decision of the Subdistrict Court
In the adjudication of the dispute the Subdistrict Court
considered that the idea behind Section 22 of the WOR is that the
employer must be able to object to the necessity of engaging an
expert or to the amount of the costs.
Since it was established in this case that the Works Council did
inform the employer, that the employer saw not reason to object on
that occasion, not even after receiving an offer on 16 April 2008,
and that the employer did pay part of the invoice, the Subdistrict
Court ruled that the employer cannot take the position later that
it will not pay the costs because the Works Council had failed to
inform it of the amount of the expected costs in
time.
Tips
- Employers should explicitly inquire after the amount of the
costs before giving their consent to engage an external expert.
If they do not receive this estimate (or not in time), it is
advisable to inform the Works Council in writing that the
employer does not intend to pay the costs. This way unnecessary
misunderstandings are avoided.
- Pursuant to Section 22 (3) of the WOR, it is also possible
to make arrangements with the Works Council about the costs as
described in Section 22 of the WOR. For example, the parties
may agree to have a certain budget per year available for the
engaging of external experts, which the Works Council is free
to spend at its discretion, and that any costs above this
budget shall only be payable by the employer if the employer
gives his explicit consent.