Salaried employees

This article is intended for companies that employ staff or are considering taking that step. Many companies start out by working with self-employed contractors or hiring people through a staffing agency. The point at which you decide to switch to hiring full-time employees varies from company to company. It depends, among other things, on your business model and the legal structure you’ve chosen. The common denominator, however, is that you have a stable, running business with a reasonable degree of certainty regarding income. Being a salaried employee means that someone is working for you, and in return, you provide certain guarantees, such as a salary. In this article, we’ll discuss how this works and, above all, provide you with some practical guidance. Because the laws regarding salaried employees change regularly, we recommend always verifying the details thoroughly when you’re dealing with them. This also involves fairly specialized knowledge.

Job Opening

Once you’ve decided to hire someone, you’ll need to make sure the job posting is drafted and that potential candidates are aware of it.

Job Description

When you’re writing the job posting, there are a few things that everyone who views it will be most interested in. These include the following topics, so be sure to highlight them:

• The job description.
• The number of hours or FTEs.
• The salary.
• Minimum education requirement.
• The location.
• A collective bargaining agreement, if applicable.

It’s also important to provide a clear picture of your company and what the role entails. This allows the reader to get a good sense of what the job involves and whether their personality is a good fit for the company. Ultimately, you want the candidate to be able to gather the following information from the job posting:

• What he or she can do for the company.
• What the company can do for him or her.

If you’re unsure about how to proceed—perhaps because this is the first time you’ve written a job posting—feel free to use a similar job posting as a template. Don’t hesitate to ask colleagues in the field for help. If there’s a collective bargaining agreement in effect for your profession, you can likely draw on some of its provisions as well.

Posting the job opening

Once you’ve posted the job opening, you naturally want to see some responses. That’s why you’ll want to focus your efforts on promoting it. Below are a few ways you can promote the job opening to the target audience you’re aiming for:

• Please share this with your network in the cultural sector—and perhaps even beyond.
• Make use of your existing communication channels, such as your website, any newsletters, and social media.
• Among social media platforms, LinkedIn is perhaps the most important, as it remains one of the most widely used “professional” social networks in the Netherlands.
• Use existing, well-known websites that post job openings. In the cultural sector, a very well-known and widely used national website is culturele-vacatures.nl.
• You could place an ad in a relevant magazine or newspaper.
• You can engage a firm that specializes in recruitment and selection to handle this process, including the application procedure if necessary.

Application Process

When you’ve posted a well-written and comprehensive job listing, it’s likely that you’ll receive more applications than the number of positions you have available. That’s why the job interview—or intake—is so important. You usually only have an hour to get to know someone and assess their suitability before deciding whether to invite them for a second interview. So, do your homework beforehand and find out everything you can about the candidates. You can do this by reviewing their cover letter and resume. These days, everyone also checks a potential candidate’s social media, but be sure to adhere strictly to privacy regulations. Write down the questions you want to ask in advance. Don’t just ask about someone’s strengths or weaknesses, or their degrees and work experience. Go a bit deeper and try, for example, to figure out how someone would act in a specific situation. Also look into the person’s passions and, above all, give the other person space to ask you questions as well. Never base the decision to hire someone on a single interview. A second interview provides time and space to reflect on everything and let it sink in. Often, you’ll invite two or three people who performed well in the first interview.

Contract

Would you like to start working together? Then it’s time to make arrangements and set them out in an employment contract. You’ll discuss these terms during the employment terms discussion, before the employee starts work. During this discussion, you’ll cover the salary, working hours, the duration of the contract, and benefits. You may only enter into a limited number of temporary contracts with an individual for a limited period. This legislation changes frequently, so be sure to check it before you begin. Also, always verify whether you fall under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In many sectors, the union negotiates the employment contract on behalf of the employees. As an employer, this may require you to comply with those agreements. Salary isn’t the only thing you discuss. Consider, for example, days off. This way, you can find common ground in various areas. When drafting a contract, it’s a good idea to first look around for examples of what a contract looks like. That way, you’ll know you haven’t forgotten anything. We have an example of a fixed-term employment contract available for you on this website.

Pension

Depending on the industry you work in, you may be required to participate in a pension plan. If participation is not mandatory, you can also choose to set up your own pension plan with a pension fund. Think this through carefully before discussing your employment terms. This requires very specific knowledge, so be sure to seek expert advice from a specialist.

Responsibility / Liability / Illness

In addition to establishing clear agreements with the employee, hiring someone as a salaried employee also requires you to act as a responsible employer. This means taking responsibility for your staff and treating them fairly. The moment someone joins your company, they fall under your legal entity. This means, for example, that the copyright to work created by the employee belongs to the company. Additionally, you are also liable for any damage employees cause to third parties. This doesn’t happen very often, but it’s wise to make sure you’re properly insured for it. Another thing you can insure against is your employees’ illness. If they’re unable to work, you’re required to continue paying their wages, unlike with self-employed individuals, for example. This can get quite expensive, especially for a small business, so be sure to request a quote from your insurer.

If, from your expertise, you yourself have knowledge that would fit this topic, or if you see opportunities to improve this text, we look forward to receiving your message at info@cultuuracademy.nl.