Employment law

A foreign company employing someone who habitually works in the Netherlands may have to comply with Dutch employment protections even when the employment contract chooses another country’s law. Incorporating a Dutch subsidiary is not the only event that can create local employment obligations. Before hiring, establish who the employer is, where the employee works, which mandatory rules apply and who will manage payroll, absence and termination.

With payroll employment, temporary agency work and secondment, the agency is your employer. Payroll employees are entitled to at least the same terms as permanent colleagues; read what applies to you and what changes from 31 December 2026 and 1 January 2028.

Even with a zero-hours or min-max contract, you are entitled to a transition payment if your employer ends the contract. How to calculate the monthly wage with variable hours and how to claim the payment in time.

Additional hours and overtime in Dutch hospitality are counted per year and must be compensated with time off or paid at 100% of your hourly wage. How to check what is outstanding, prove your hours and claim your wages.

Not your contract but the practice decides whether you are an employee. Read how Dutch courts assess false self-employment, which rights you then have and which time limits apply.

Most of the Dutch Flexible Workers Act only applies from 1 January 2028. Read, per effective date, what changes for on-call, temporary agency and fixed-term workers, what happens to your existing contract and which rights you already have now.

If you lose your job in the Netherlands, your 30% ruling ends at the latest on the last day of the pay period after the

If you work in the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) and lose your job, your residence permit does not end immediately: you have

An employer may not simply change terms of employment. With a written amendment clause, Article 7:613 of the Dutch Civil Code applies; without such a clause, consent is the starting point.

The second track means looking for suitable work with another employer. It must start in good time when a lasting return with your own employer has insufficient prospects.