Important Contacts
Marlon Muler: Regional Manager
Amber Bolland: People Partner for region South
Amber Bolland (temporarily): People Partner for region North
Rinus Brands: People Partner for HQ
People Partner: contact person for City Managers and Regional Managers for special cases in the hubs and HR-related questions. Please note that City Managers and Regional Managers are the first contact point for Hub Managers.
City Managers, Hub Managers, and Shift Leads can contact via this link at any time with questions or requests via email, please do not contact the People Partners.
The People Team and Rider Ops
The People Team consists of several departments: People Ops/Experience, Talent Acquisition (supported by Hub Growth), and Payroll. Next to that, you have Rider Ops which consists of Rider Care and Rider Growth, responsible for all Hub Employee-related questions and requests. Country Operations is divided into two areas:
Hub Employees: this includes Riders, Ops Employees, and Shift Leads. This area is handled by Rider Care and Rider Growth.
Hub Managers, City Managers and Regional Managers
This area is handled exclusively by People Ops and Payroll. The overview shows which topics are the responsibility of which team. Enquiries about People Ops and Payroll issues for the employee self can be send via this form. Any questions or requests as a Hub Manager regarding Shift Leads can be done via this form.
Contract types
Zero hour contract
0 - 40 hours per week.
Min/Max Contract
Minimum and maximum hours per week.
Fixed hourly contract part-time or full time
Amount of hours is dependent on agreement.
Contract amendments
Deadlines: Changes can only be requested at least two weeks before the change date.
Rules
No contract amendments will be created retroactively.
Contract amendments are only created if all required documents are available. (Ex: work permit).
Employees may only start in the new position on the effective date specified in the contract.
Changes involving a reduction in position or title are not permitted (the exception is if the employee agrees to the reduction). Promotions should therefore always be well considered.
Requests for Riders, Ops Associates, and Shift Leads will be solicited through the Request Form only. Requests for Hub Managers and City Managers can be sent via this form.
Contract changes are only permitted by the relevant Hub Manager (or City Manager or Regional Manager if applicable).
Guidelines for Contract Extensions for Shift Leads/ Hub Associates
Notice Period
We, as an employer, are obligated to notify the employee in writing at least one month before the end date of the temporary contract whether we are going to extend the contract or not. This is the so-called ‘statutory notice period’ stated in Section 7:668 of the Dutch Civil Code.
If we don’t give this notice, or in other words, if we do not confirm whether we are going to extend the contract at least one month in advance, the employee can claim a penalty from the employer. If we do give notice before the end date of the contract, but later than one month in advance, the penalty will be calculated per day.
Offer Fixed Hour Contract
We are also required to offer employees who are on flexible contracts a fixed-hour contract after one year of working for Flink. The fixed monthly hours in the offer will be the average number of hours the employee has worked with us in the past 11 months. Please be aware that we will round it in steps of two hours. For example, if the employee has an average of 33 hours, the contract offer will be 34 fixed hours. The employee is not obligated to accept the offer. If they decide to reject the offer, the employee will remain on a min/max contract.
Since we are obliged by law to do so, this offer must be presented during the conversation regarding the extension. Please give them this offer and emphasize that they can only choose the average working hours. They cannot decide for themselves how many fixed hours they want. Please make it clear that if they decide to accept the fixed hours contract, they will always have to work that amount of hours as they will always get paid for that amount of hours.
Process for the Contract Extensions
You receive the extension document in the third week of the month with the names of the employees whose contract expires within the next month. For example, in the third week of January, you will receive the documents with employees whose contract expires in March.
Agree with your city manager on the contract extension before talking to the employee. Take into account the performance of the employee, as well as fit in the total planning scheme.
You start planning a one-on-one conversation with the employees in a timescale of two weeks. You might invite your city manager to participate in this conversation as well. Tips for this conversation are listed below.
Please fill in the extensions document after the conversation; fill in whether the contract is going to be extended or not, and if the employee stays on the min/max contract, or changes to a fixed hours contract.
Option 1: the contract needs to be extended with one year
Is the employee a good performer and do you want them in your team for another year?
Plan a one-on-one with the employee. This is an important moment to show your appreciation, so make sure you schedule enough time.
Look back to the past year and ask them how they experienced the year. What went well? What were things that did not go as well as they hoped? Do they like their job? What do they like to see better? Tell them your opinion about their performance in the past year. Try to give examples and tell them that you would like to keep seeing this for another year.
Explain that the contract will be extended under the same conditions, but that they have the possibility to change to a fixed-term contract as described above.
Please know/expect that employees might see this conversation as a possibility to negotiate terms of employment. Please note: do not initiate this yourself. If they make suggestions, tell them that there is a performance review twice a year where they can negotiate terms of employment.
Inform them about the CLA changes; Currently we both have employees that are on the (old) Supermarket CLA and on the (new) E-Commerce CLA. Important to check beforehand which CLA the employee is on. The information regarding the CLA changes are listed below.
Tell them that you will share the outcome of the conversation with the People team / Rider Ops team and they will formalize the extension by letter. They need to sign this letter within five working days.
Option 2: the contract ends by operation of law
If the Hub Manager and City Manager decide to not extend the contract, there are a few tips on how to do the conversation;
Plan a one-on-one meeting with the employee and city manager. Make sure you plan sufficient time. This news has a big impact on the employee so make sure you are well prepared. This can be done by writing down key points of what you want to say.
Get right to the issue at hand. Try to avoid small talk, but immediately inform the employee that his/her contract is not going to be extended. Make sure you show them the decision is made, and there is no room for discussion.
Make sure you prepare some good reasons why you decided to not extend the contract. I.e. already overstaffed.
Try to be empathetic and understanding, but stay professional and try not to be apologetic. Avoid sentences such as ‘’I am so sorry’’ or ‘’I am sure you will find another job soon’’.
The employee is entitled to severance payment, which is one monthly salary for each year worked. The vacation days and holiday pay will be paid out by the final settlement.
The employee might have some questions, make sure to provide the employee the opportunity to ask them.
Tell the employee you are always available for another conversion if there is a need for it.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the People team / Rider Ops Team via the ticketing system:
Click here for any questions you have for yourself (People Team);
Click here for any questions/requests you might have as a manager for one of your team members (Hub Managers and City Managers only) (People Team);
Click here for questions for the Rider Ops Team.
Warnings
A warning notice is issued by the employer when an employee breaches contractual and/or behavioral obligations. They contain a warning for certain consequences under labor laws, in particular dismissal in the event of a repeated offense. This is a milder measure before dismissal (final warning). A warning is usually a prerequisite for dismissals for conduct-related reasons and ordinary dismissals outside the probationary period. For more information, we want to refer you to Flink's code of conduct, the behavioral standards, and the disciplinary actions matrix.
Reasons for warnings
Lateness;
Compliance violations;
Unexcused absence;
Failure to follow company policy regarding sick leave;
Breaches of company regulations.
Important:
For more details on the warnings, please refer to the disciplinary actions matrix.
Procedure
Hub Employees warnings are requested via this form only after discussion with City Manager.
Warnings (for Hub Managers) can be requested via this form.
Step 1: Discuss with your Regional Manager/City Manager and People Partner if the reason for the warning is valid;
Step 2: Make a copy of the warning letter FORMAT - Official Warning and adjust it accordingly;
Step 3: Your Regional Manager/City Manager and People Partner will review the letter and provide feedback, also share with People Partner for information;
Step 4: After the warning is approved, send the warning as a PDF via ticket/mail to the Employee and People in CC. People will add the warning to the employee's personnel file.
Important note: The warning should be accompanied by a conversation of the Manager with the employee explaining and giving feedback regarding the warning before you send out the warning.
Important:
Even if the employee does not want to acknowledge the warning, the warning is still legally valid.
Terminations
Termination Rules
Terminations must be rational decisions which are well-considered.
Terminations cannot be revoked and should always be discussed first with City Manager and/or Regional Manager and the People Team (for SL and HM) and Rider Care (regarding Riders and Ops Associates(+))
If the above point is not possible (because of the weekend for example), you are allowed to suspend that employee with maintenance of salary after discussion with your City Manager. Please make sure to confirm this via email with your manager and the People Team in CC and tell the employee the situation will be investigated further by the People Team and an official letter will be sent out the next working day.
Before giving a termination notice, you should always consider whether a warning or even feedback conversation would help. If this is the case, please follow the steps outlined above in ‘Procedure’.
Within the probation period, an employee can be terminated without a reason.
Outside the probation period, there must be a valid reason for it, or the offense must have already been warned. Evidence and witnesses must be collected here to support the reason for termination in the event of any legal action.
Verbal terminations are not sufficient, so it must always be in writing done by the Rider Ops or People Team.
Important:
Please always make sure to request probationary period terminations in good time, which is 2 months in the E-Commerce CLA. Frequently asked questions.
When is a notice of termination valid? A notice of termination is only valid when it is sent to the Employee during the probationary period.
Example: If an employee is almost at the end of their probationary period, the notice of termination can only be given within this period if it as the notice of termination is sent to the employee in question within the probation period.
Termination during illness? Within the probation period, there is no special protection against dismissal, even during illness. Thus, the notice of termination can be given during the agreed probation period (max. 2 months) effective immediately as soon as the notice of termination is sent to the employee.
Manager’s self-service
Delegation of workflows (only relevant for City Managers and Regional Managers as Riders/Pickers and Shift Leads request vacation in Quinyx). Since vacation requests in SAP are automatically approved after 5 days it is crucial for our managers to check their SAP workflows every day. This can be difficult to manage while you are on vacation or on a sick leave. From now on you will be able to delegate your workflows to another person for a certain period of time, so that someone always has an eye on the incoming ones
Visa
It is important that every employee who has a visa always has a current residence permit with a valid work permit.
What to look for in new starters
Inform employees that a valid visa must always be available in the system.
The employee can upload this via the Hub Care Form.
Important:
If this is not done in time, the Quinyx account will be paused and will not be reactivated until the valid documentation is provided.
Contract Changes
Before requesting a change, check that a valid visa has been submitted by the employee.
Pregnancy
Pregnancies must always be reported to the People Team. This is done via the this from for all employees. Please also submit a document from the employee informing them about the pregnancy and the expected date of birth.
Sick leave policy
In case of sickness, please inform your Manager via phone and email. Also add your sick leave in the absence module in SAP SF. Latest should be the morning of your absence.
You are legally required to do everything possible to return to work as soon as possible, be available between 9AM and 2PM for any possible questions. If sick for a longer period of time we register your sickness with De Nieuwe Arts (our arbo service). Follow the process as required by law and keep your manager in the loop.
Once you’re feeling better you can report better in SAP SF and inform your manager accordingly.
Sick Leave Guidelines
See more about it here.
References
Learn more about the leave policy here
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