As an employer in the Netherlands, you may give reasonable instructions about the work, and you have obligations you cannot contract out of: paying wages, also during illness, providing a safe workplace, acting as a good employer and respecting the closed system of dismissal. The main exception to your right of instruction is that it covers the work only: it does not let you change the agreed terms of employment on your own.
Below we set out your rights and duties, the rules for on-call staff and self-employed professionals, and the points where employers most often go wrong. The rules are mainly in Book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), the Working Conditions Act (Arbeidsomstandighedenwet) and, where one applies, your collective labour agreement (cao).
Cuprins
What rights do you have as an employer?
Your main right is the right of instruction. Under Article 7:660 BW, an employee must follow your instructions about the performance of the work and the good order of the business, within the limits of the law and the contract.
That right does not extend to changing the agreed terms. Under Article 7:613 BW, you can only rely on a written unilateral amendment clause if you have such a serious interest in the change that the employee’s interest must give way. Without such a clause, you need the employee’s consent, or a reasonable proposal that the employee can reasonably be expected to accept in all the circumstances.
Which core obligations apply from the first employee?
From your first employee, you must pay the agreed wage, provide a safe workplace, act as a good employer (Article 7:611 BW) and inform the employee in writing about the terms of employment. Before the start, you register as an employer with the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) to withhold payroll taxes.
- Wages during illness: under Article 7:629 BW, you pay at least 70% of the wage for up to 104 weeks, and in the first 52 weeks at least the statutory minimum wage. Your cao may require more.
- Safe workplace: the Working Conditions Act requires a current risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) with a plan of action, access to a company doctor, and a policy on psychosocial workload such as harassment and work pressure.
- Written information: under Article 7:655 BW, you give the key details (parties, place of work, job, start date, wage, working hours) no later than one week after the start, and the remaining details within one month.
- Closed system of dismissal: the contract ends only with the employee’s written consent, with permission from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), or by decision of the subdistrict court (kantonrechter).
- Whistleblowing procedure: under Article 2 of the Whistleblowers Protection Act (Wet bescherming klokkenluiders), an employer with usually 50 or more employees must have an internal reporting procedure.
A cao binds you if you are a member of an employers’ association that signed it, or if the Minister has declared it generally binding for your sector. Check this before you hire, together with any compulsory industry pension fund.
What happens if practice differs from the contract?
Then the law may treat the actual hours as the agreed hours. Under Article 7:610b BW, once the employment has lasted at least three months, the agreed working time in a month is presumed to equal the average monthly working time over the three preceding months.
An example to illustrate: an employee on a 24-hour contract has worked 32 hours a week for months to cover peak workloads. The employee can rely on the presumption and claim wages, holiday entitlement and pension accrual on the basis of 32 hours. It is then up to you to show that the extra hours were temporary or exceptional. Reliable time records are your main defence.
When must you adjust or record changes to the contract?
When the facts or the law require it. The table gives the main moments.
| Situație | Atunci când | Your obligation | Risk if you do not act |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-call worker with 12 months of service | Within one month after 12 months | Offer fixed hours equal to at least the average of the past 12 months (Article 7:628a(5) BW) | Claim for wages over the hours that should have been offered |
| Structural extra hours of a regular employee | După trei luni | No duty to offer, but the presumption of Article 7:610b BW applies | Claim based on the higher working hours |
| Schimbarea conținutului postului | At the time of the change | Record the new position and terms in writing | Disputes about tasks and salary |
| Request to change hours, place or times of work | Decision at least one month before the requested start date | Decide in writing under the Flexible Working Act (Wet flexibel werken), employers with ten or more employees | Without a timely decision, the change applies as requested (Article 2(12)) |
| Boală pe termen lung | During reintegration | Offer suitable work, in your own business or elsewhere | Wage sanction from the UWV |
How do you use on-call staff without pitfalls?
Call on-call workers at least four days in advance, pay for late cancellations and offer fixed hours after 12 months. These rules are in Article 7:628a BW and apply to on-call contracts such as zero-hours and min-max contracts.
- Under Article 7:628a(2) BW, the employee does not have to respond to a call made less than four days in advance in writing or electronically.
- If you withdraw or change a call within four days before the start, the employee keeps the right to wages for the hours called (Article 7:628a(3) BW).
- A cao may shorten the four-day period, but not below 24 hours (Article 7:628a(4) BW).
- For each period of less than three hours worked, an on-call worker is entitled to wages for three hours (Article 7:628a(1) BW).
An example to illustrate: an on-call worker has worked an average of 18 hours a week over the past year. You must then offer a contract for at least 18 hours a week within one month. The employee may decline, but if you make no offer, the employee can claim wages for the hours that should have been offered.
What is changing for on-call contracts?
The Act on more security for flexible workers (Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers) was adopted by the Senate on 7 July 2026. It replaces zero-hours contracts with contracts with a guaranteed minimum number of hours; the main part is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2028. Review your on-call contracts well before then.
How do you prevent false self-employment?
Look at how the work is actually done, not at the label in the contract. If you decide how, where and when a self-employed professional (zzp’er) works, and the work is embedded in your organisation, the relationship may be employment under Article 7:610 BW.
An employment contract has three elements: personal work, wages and a relationship of authority (gezagsverhouding). Supreme Court case law makes clear that all the circumstances count, including how the work is embedded in your organisation and whether the professional acts as an independent entrepreneur. The table sets out the main indicators.
| Criteriu | Puncte pentru angajare | Puncte către independență |
|---|---|---|
| Autoritate | You set how, where and when the work is done | The contractor decides how to reach the agreed result |
| Personal work | Substitution is excluded or impossible in practice | The contractor may send someone else |
| Instrumente | Company laptop, phone or car | Own equipment and own investments |
| Antreprenoriatul | No business risk, one client | Several clients, bad-debt risk, periods without work |
| încorporarea | Part of the team, fixed days, internal meetings | Works outside the organisation on a defined project |
What are the enforcement risks?
Since 1 January 2025, the Tax Administration again enforces the rules on false self-employment. If it finds an employment relationship, you may face additional assessments for payroll taxes and, where you fall under a compulsory industry pension fund, pension contributions; penalties are possible in cases of intent or gross negligence.
The professional can also claim employee rights, such as dismissal protection and sick pay. In addition, a new Article 7:610aa BW (Stb. 2026, 158) enters into force on 31 December 2026: a person working for a business at an hourly rate up to a statutory threshold is presumed to work under an employment contract. The amount for the first year is set by ministerial regulation. You then have to prove that there is no employment contract.
How do you handle conflicts and dismissal?
Start with a conversation, consider mediation, and use the formal routes only when needed. Economic dismissal and dismissal after two years of illness run through the UWV; dismissal for reasons relating to the person, such as poor performance or a disrupted working relationship, runs through the subdistrict court.
If you end the employment by mutual consent, the settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) must be in writing. Under Article 7:670b BW, the employee may dissolve it without giving reasons within 14 days, and you must mention that right in the agreement; if you do not, the period is three weeks.
Deadlines are short on both sides. Under Article 7:686a(4) BW, a request to the subdistrict court about the termination itself, such as a claim for fair compensation, must usually be filed within two months after the contract ended; a claim for the transition payment (transitievergoeding) within three months.
Which documents do you need to keep in order?
A good file shows that you act with care, which matters in any dispute or inspection by the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie).
- Employment contracts and every written change to them.
- Appraisal and improvement plans: a dismissal for poor performance requires a documented improvement process.
- Absence records with all steps under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter), to avoid a UWV wage sanction.
- Time records, especially for on-call staff and part-timers who work extra hours.
- A current RI&E with plan of action, and a staff handbook with your sick-reporting protocol and conduct rules, handled in line with the GDPR.
Review contracts and policies at least once a year. Legislative changes are announced by the Ministerul Afacerilor Sociale și Ocupării Forței de Muncă; recent examples are the presumption of employment and the new on-call rules.
Ce ar trebui să verifici ca angajator?
- Do your contracts and the written information meet Article 7:655 BW, and do you deliver it within one week?
- Do the actual hours of part-timers and on-call workers match the contract?
- Have you offered fixed hours to every on-call worker with 12 months of service?
- Would your self-employed professionals pass the authority and embedding test, also after 31 December 2026?
- Is your RI&E current, and do you have a company doctor and, from 50 employees, a whistleblowing procedure?
Ce ar trebui să verifici ca angajat?
- Did you receive written information on your job, wage and hours within one week of starting?
- Have you structurally worked more hours than agreed for at least three months?
- As an on-call worker, did you receive an offer of fixed hours after 12 months?
- Is a proposed change to your terms covered by a written amendment clause, and is the employer’s interest serious enough?
- If you sign a settlement agreement, note the 14-day period to dissolve it.
What can we do for you with your obligations as an employer?
Gama de avocați angajați advise employers on contracts, flexible staff, self-employed professionals, illness and dismissal.
- We review your employment contract templates and written information against Articles 7:655 and 7:628a BW.
- We assess your arrangements with self-employed professionals ahead of the presumption of employment on 31 December 2026.
- We calculate the fixed-hours offer for on-call workers and draft it.
- We review a proposed change of terms against Article 7:613 BW and draft the proposal to your staff.
- We draft settlement agreements and conduct dismissal procedures at the UWV and the subdistrict court.
Rezumat
- You may give instructions about the work (Article 7:660 BW), but you cannot change agreed terms on your own without a written clause and a serious interest (Article 7:613 BW) or a reasonable proposal.
- Core duties: wages, including 70% for up to 104 weeks of illness, a safe workplace, good employership, written information within one week, and the closed system of dismissal.
- On-call workers: four days’ notice, pay for late cancellations, a fixed-hours offer after 12 months; new rules are expected from 1 January 2028.
- False self-employment is enforced again since 2025, and a statutory presumption of employment applies from 31 December 2026.
Întrebări frecvente
Can I change an employee’s working hours or salary on my own?
Only within narrow limits. Under Article 7:613 BW you need a written amendment clause in the contract and such a serious interest that the employee’s interest must give way. Otherwise you need the employee’s consent or a reasonable proposal the employee can reasonably be expected to accept.
How long must I pay wages to a sick employee?
Up to 104 weeks. Under Article 7:629 BW you pay at least 70% of the wage, and in the first 52 weeks at least the statutory minimum wage. Many cao’s require a higher percentage.
When do I have to offer an on-call worker fixed hours?
When the on-call contract has lasted 12 months. Within one month, you offer in writing or electronically a fixed number of hours equal to at least the average over those 12 months (Article 7:628a(5) BW).
From when does the presumption of employment for self-employed professionals apply?
From 31 December 2026. A person working for a business at an hourly rate up to the statutory threshold is then presumed to be an employee (Article 7:610aa BW). The threshold for the first year is set by ministerial regulation.
