# Booking.com works council appeals office attendance ruling

> The works council at Booking.com is appealing a court ruling that lets the company require staff to spend 40% of their working time at the office, so the dispute over home working continues.

Economy · published 2026-11-10 12:24 · updated 2026-11-10 16:38 · https://nlnow.nl/a/booking-com-works-council-appeals-office-attendance-ruling/

The works council (ondernemingsraad) of Booking.com is appealing against a ruling by the Amsterdam district court that allows the company to require employees to come to the office more often. The council announced the appeal on Tuesday.

At the end of October, the court let Booking.com make office attendance mandatory. The company wanted staff to spend at least 40% of their working time at the office. That figure had been only a recommendation, and about a quarter of employees met it.

The works council refused to consent to the change, so Booking.com went to court. The court found the company had sufficiently substantiated its interest in more contact at the office. Physical presence can help bonding, onboarding and training, and collaboration between teams, it said.

The council says the court did not apply the criteria of the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) correctly and gave too little weight to important arguments. It also says Booking.com offered no substantive evidence that mandatory attendance improves morale or helps reach company goals.

In a letter, the council said: "To be clear, the works council has nothing against working in the office." It supports the current advice of 40% and shares the company's aims of innovation, learning and effective collaboration. What it disputes is that a mandatory rule achieves them.

Across the Netherlands, home working has barely moved lately. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) data show the average share of workers who work from home fell from 50.9% in the third quarter of 2022 to 44.7% in the second quarter of 2026. Since the start of 2023, it has stayed between 44.7% and 48.2%.

Booking.com said it is disappointed that the council chose to appeal. "We think it's important to strike a balance between letting employees work from home flexibly and getting people together in the office," the company said. Its spokesperson added that cooperation at the office remains essential.

**Average home-working share has eased from 50.9% to 44.7% since 2022** (%; source: CBS)

- 2022 Q3: 50.9
- 2022 Q4: 48.4
- 2023 Q1: 45.8
- 2023 Q2: 45.3
- 2023 Q3: 48.2
- 2023 Q4: 45.1
- 2024 Q1: 46.1
- 2024 Q2: 45.3
- 2024 Q3: 47.3
- 2024 Q4: 44.8
- 2025 Q1: 45.2
- 2025 Q2: 44.9
- 2025 Q3: 46
- 2025 Q4: 44.8
- 2026 Q1: 45.1
- 2026 Q2: 44.7

## Background

- **OR (ondernemingsraad)**: A works council: a body elected by employees to represent them in a company or organisation. The employer must ask its advice or consent on important decisions, such as reorganisations and rules on working hours.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/