Judge signals support for Booking’s two-day office rule

An Amsterdam judge has indicated she may support Booking.com's request to require employees to work at least two days a week in the office, according to the Financieele Dagblad. The dispute between the travel platform and its works council revolves around the reasonableness of such a requirement. The judge commented during a recent hearing, "Two days is really very little, I'm just telling it like it is."

Booking has maintained a two-day office rule for over three years, but now seeks to enforce it as mandatory. The Amsterdam headquarters, occupying over 65,000 square meters, were the setting for the hearing, which was attended by several dozen employees. Booking argued that enforcing office attendance is a "small step" and that remote work can negatively impact employees' mental health.

However, the works council countered that mandating office days could undermine staff autonomy and noted that Booking remains profitable despite low office attendance. The judge seemed to favor Booking's perspective, stating that working 40% of the time in the office is "perfectly normal." Both parties have been given a week to reach a settlement; otherwise, the court will issue a ruling by the end of October.