A Dutch court has ruled that travel giant Booking.com can legally compel its corporate employees to spend a minimum of two days a week working from the physical office, drawing a definitive conclusion to a tense labor dispute between company management and the firm’s internal works council.
The legal decision, handed down on October 28, 2026, came as little surprise to legal experts and corporate observers. The ruling followed an earlier hearing in which the presiding judge publicly remarked that requiring corporate employees to spend 40% of their contracted working hours on-site was a "very normal" expectation in the modern post-pandemic corporate landscape.
At the center of the dispute is Booking.com’s massive headquarters located in Amsterdam, where approximately 7,000 staff members are based. Currently, just over a quarter of these employees regularly commute to the headquarters twice a week. Management at the multinational online travel agency originally implemented the two-day guideline on an advisory basis, arguing that physical proximity is vital for fostering workplace culture, enhancing team collaboration, facilitating effective training, and streamlining overall working operations.
However, tension flared when corporate leadership attempted to transition the policy from a flexible guideline into a mandatory requirement for all applicable staff. This move immediately met fierce resistance from the company’s works council—a legally recognized body representing the interests of employees under Dutch labor law.
The works council formally objected to the mandatory mandate, raising significant concerns regarding the adverse impacts on employee work-life balance, extended commuting times, and the rising financial burden of daily travel costs amidst broader economic pressures. Furthermore, the employee representatives questioned whether forcing a blanket office-attendance policy would genuinely translate into improved professional performance or productivity, arguing that many tech and administrative roles can be performed with equal or greater efficiency remotely.
Despite these objections, the court ultimately sided with management, noting that the company had demonstrated a willingness to compromise and had actively taken employee grievances into account prior to enforcing the rule. Specifically, the judge highlighted that Booking.com responded to initial pushback by scaling back its initial ambitions and introducing a generous six-month transition period to help staff adapt to the changes. Additionally, the company chose to anchor the minimum in-office requirement at 40%—representing two days out of a standard five-day work week—rather than pushing for a more rigid 50% or 60% schedule that some other corporations have pursued.
Following the verdict, representatives for Booking.com expressed satisfaction with the outcome, emphasizing that the mandatory two-day rule should not be viewed as a drastic or unprecedented shift, but rather as a measured "strengthening of our current policy."
A company spokesperson reiterated Booking.com’s commitment to maintaining an open and collaborative relationship with its workforce and its elected representatives as the policy is formally rolled out across the organization. "We value the relationship with our works council and will continue to hold constructive dialogue with them and our employees as we roll this policy order further," the spokesperson stated.
The court’s decision is already drawing broader attention across the Dutch corporate sector, where many employers are grappling with how to balance remote work flexibility with the desire for centralized collaboration. Pascal Besselink, an employment lawyer specializing in labor relations, noted in remarks to RTL Nieuws that corporate legal teams and human resources departments throughout the Netherlands will be studying the judgment very closely to understand how far companies can go in regulating workplace attendance.
According to Besselink, while the ruling provides legal backing for employers seeking to recall staff to corporate headquarters, maintaining workforce morale and industrial harmony remains a delicate balancing act. "They will always strive to maintain a good relationship with their employees and works council and consult thoroughly on arrangements about home working," Besselink observed, signaling that consultation and transitional leniency remain critical factors for companies navigating post-pandemic workspace transitions.
As Booking.com begins the phased implementation of its strengthened attendance policy under the protection of the court’s ruling, the company and its works council are expected to continue working through the practical details of the transition over the coming months.
