Which tasks will be legally established?
According to the legislative proposal, the confidential advisor will have, among others, the task to:
- support, guide and advise employees and, where necessary, refer them to appropriate assistance;
- advise the employer, both when requested and unsolicited, on preventing and addressing inappropriate behavior;
- report annually on the observations to the employer, works council or employee representative body;
- inform employees and the employer about the role of the confidential advisor and make clear what employees can approach the confidential advisor for.
The amendment will be included in article 13a of the Working Conditions Act (Arbowet).
A broader position within the organization
With the legislative proposal, the preventive role of the confidential advisor also gains more weight. In particular, the task of advising the employer both when requested and unsolicited is relevant in this. In order to advise effectively, it is important to know what is going on within an organization. Which signals recur? Where do tensions arise? Which topics do employees find difficult to discuss? And where are there opportunities to take action earlier?
Visibility is important for this. Employees must know who you are, what they can approach you for and how they can reach you. At the same time, the advisory role requires a good connection with HR, management, the board and the works council, while maintaining the independent position that belongs to confidential advisor work.
Precisely from that position, you can bring signals from practice into conversations about social safety. Not at case level, but by advising, based on your observations, on themes, patterns and points of attention that are present within the organization.
What does this already mean for you?
The effective date of the legislative amendment is not yet definitive. Still, this is a good moment to look at your current position.
How visible are you within the organization? Do employees know what they can approach you for? Do you have sufficient contact with the different levels of the organization? Is there room to periodically share your observations and provide advice? And are you involved in conversations about policy, culture and the prevention of inappropriate behavior?
The legal development provides reason to start the conversation about this now. A firmly positioned confidential advisor can identify what is going on earlier, bring relevant themes to attention and contribute to policy and prevention from practice.
This gives you an increasingly clear place in working on social safety: visible to employees, connected to the organization and with sufficient room to look ahead.