Hospitality Employment Law: Minus Hours & Vacation Days

Questioner

I work in the hospitality industry. The company uses the KHN employment conditions regulations. I have a contract for 32 hours per week and it was verbally agreed that I would work around days. Now I have been working structurally too few hours since January 2017 because my employer sends me (and other colleagues) home because they want to lower the pl. I have indicated several times that I am working minus hours and the answer I got from the then manager was oh girl don't worry, nothing will be done about it. In the meantime this manager has left and now I am being told that I have to make up for my minus hours. Of course I understand that I have to work for my money, that is not the problem, but it is their fault that I am in the red.. I then receive an email this week. And it says the following 'Working in the hospitality industry is inherently characterised by varying workloads, peaks and troughs during the week and throughout the year. In this we are dependent on all kinds of factors that determine how our week goes and how many or how few hours we can work. Many of you have a fixed number of hours stated in your employment contract, because a stable income is very desirable for everyone. However, this does mean that we have to draw up a balance sheet of how many hours have been paid out and how many hours have been worked. In your case, we have found that fewer hours were worked than the hours stated in the employment contract and which are paid out monthly. On 30-7-2017 the balance of your TVT hours was -97.7. The balance of the holiday hours on 30-7-2017 is 63.89 hours. We offer you the opportunity to compensate for your hours, minus hours must be made up within a period of 6 months. This means that hours lost from March can be made up until September and from April can be made up until October. We will of course ensure that you are scheduled sufficiently and that we take the Working Hours Act into account. If you request days off, this will be compensated with vacation days. Also if you want to go home a day earlier or you want to start later, while you are scheduled to and therefore do not reach your hours per week/month, vacation hours will be compensated for this. So keep that in mind' Now my question is can they just compensate my vacation days.. and that of 6 months is this correct? Are they even allowed to charge minus hours, there is nothing mentioned about this in my contract.

Lawyer

No, normally when you are not working and you want to take time off, it 'costs' you leave time. Minus hours are for the account of the employer and may never be compensated. The Employer cannot demand that the minus hours be 'made up'. You are not obliged to make up for the minus hours. The employer may not compensate the minus hours in any way.