Booking.com Wins Court Approval for 40% Mandatory Office Attendance

An Amsterdam court has ruled that Booking.com (NASDAQ: BKNG) can legally require its employees to work from the office for a minimum of 40% of their time. The decision, delivered Wednesday, provides significant legal backing for the company's hybrid work policy in a dispute with its works council.

Court Backs Company's Rationale

The court found the company's requirement for in-person attendance to be reasonable, citing the need to foster team cohesion, facilitate training and development, and ensure effective collaboration. The ruling underscores the ongoing tension between corporate return-to-office strategies and employee representative bodies in the post-pandemic era.

Booking.com initiated the lawsuit after its works council refused to consent to the new mandate. Under the Dutch Works Councils Act, a court can grant permission if it determines the council's refusal was unreasonable, which it did in this case, affirming the company's managerial discretion.

Failure of Voluntary Model Cited

A key factor in the ruling was the failure of a previous voluntary attendance arrangement. According to the court's findings, only 27% of employees were meeting the 40% office attendance threshold under the non-mandatory system, which the court noted justified a more formal policy.

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The policy approved by the court includes several provisions to ease the transition for staff:

• A six-month transition period for employees to adapt.
• A hardship clause to accommodate individuals facing genuine difficulties.

Broader Context and Policy Details

This mandate represents a reduction from an earlier company proposal that called for 50% to 60% mandatory office time. As part of its ruling, the court also ordered Booking.com to guarantee sufficient workstations for all employees attending the office.

The decision is a notable development for large corporations seeking to formalize hybrid work models. It provides a legal precedent in the Netherlands for enforcing office attendance when a company can demonstrate a reasonable business case and show that voluntary measures have proven ineffective.