Extending Working Life

Abstract

Ageing has been a concern for several years now. Member States introduced higher pensionable ages to increase labour market participation and facilitate the active participation of older workers in the labour market, and also those who are beyond pensionable age. This contribution uses the Netherlands as a case study for analysing the introduced changes made to facilitate the employment of pensionable workers. Besides increasing pensionable age, obstacles in labour law were also removed. A ‘labour law light’ regime has been created for this group of workers, making hiring pensionable workers more flexible by loosening dismissal law protection, introducing an extended possibility of using fixed-term employment contracts, and diminishing the employer's obligation to continue paying the worker's wage during sickness. This paper critically analyses the merits of the government's response by statutorily facilitating the possibility of employing workers beyond their pensionable age. The regime's aim has significant limitations with regard to actually stimulating employees to continue working beyond the pensionable age, having in mind a more sustainable approach towards active ageing.