A flexible worker with problems over pay, hours or dismissal?
Which rights you have depends on your type of contract, your Collective Labour Agreement and the time limit that is currently running. On this page you can recognise your situation and, for each problem, find the article that explains it in full.
- We establish which contract you legally have, whatever the title at the top says.
- We compare your hours, payslips and messages with the law and the Collective Labour Agreement.
- We safeguard the time limit that expires first.
Call 070 450 0300Have your flexible contract assessed
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Reference date 27 September 2026
If you work as an on-call worker (oproepkracht), a temporary agency worker (uitzendkracht), through payroll employment (payrolling) or on a fixed-term contract, you are an employee. In principle you are then entitled to wages, continued payment of wages during sickness, holidays and protection against dismissal. What differs per situation follows from your type of contract: for on-call work Article 7:628a of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), for temporary agency work (uitzendwerk) Article 7:691 BW with phases and possibly a temporary agency clause (uitzendbeding). A Collective Labour Agreement (CLA, cao) can adjust time limits and pay rules. The Dutch Flexible Workers Act (Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers) has been adopted, but most parts only apply from 1 January 2028. First establish which contract you actually have and which time limit is running.
Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Last updated: 27 September 2026.
This page is a route map. For each situation you read briefly what the main rule is and where the full answer can be found. It is intended for employees on a flexible contract and for self-employed workers (zzp’ers) and platform workers who doubt whether they are actually employees. If you are an employer, or you are looking for advice on a permanent contract without flexible elements, our general page on employment law is a better starting point.
Recognise your contract
The name at the top of your contract is not decisive. A “flexible contract” can legally be an on-call contract (oproepovereenkomst), a “secondment” (detachering) can be a temporary agency contract and an “assignment” can be an employment contract. What counts are the arrangements on hours and pay and how you actually work. The table below is a first recognition under the law as it currently applies, until 1 January 2028.
| Contract | Feature | Who is the employer | Pay when there is no work | Main risk | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent contract | Indefinite term, fixed hours | The company where you work | In principle yes (Article 7:628 BW) | Dismissal via the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) or a settlement agreement | Employment law |
| Fixed-term contract | End date, often fixed hours | The company where you work | In principle yes; a deviation is possible in the first six months | Contract ends on the end date without a dismissal procedure | Rules on successive contracts |
| On-call or zero-hours contract (nulurencontract) | No fixed hours, you are called in | The company that calls you in | Only for hours you were called in for, unless the legal presumption or the duty to offer fixed hours applies | Quietly being called in less or not at all | Rights as an on-call worker |
| Min-max contract | Guaranteed minimum plus extra hours | The company that calls you in | Yes for the minimum, above that the on-call rules | Structurally working more than the minimum without any adjustment | Min-max contract |
| Temporary agency contract | Work via an agency at a hirer, phases A, B, C | The employment agency | Depends on the phase and the CLA; in phase A, wages when there is no work may be excluded | Temporary agency clause: the contract ends when the assignment stops | Rights as a temporary agency worker |
| Payroll | The client found you, the agency handles the administration | The payroll company | In principle as for the client’s own employees | Wrongly treated as a temporary agency worker | Payroll and secondment |
| Seconded | Employed by an agency, placed on projects | The secondment agency | Often yes, also between projects; that depends on your contract | Unclear whether the temporary agency regime applies after all | Payroll and secondment |
| Self-employed or platform | Assignment or app, paid per job | Nobody, unless it is in fact an employment contract | No | False self-employment: no pay during sickness, no protection against dismissal | Employee or freelancer |
Pay attention to the CLA. The CLA for Temporary Agency Workers and the CLAs for hospitality, cleaning and retail contain their own rules on call-up periods, phases, exclusion of pay and notice periods. A CLA can deviate, but only to the extent the law allows. If you work through an agency, also read who is legally your employer in temporary agency work.
No pay or fewer hours
You are no longer called in, or called in less
Stopping call-ups is not dismissal: your contract continues. After three months, the legal presumption of working hours (rechtsvermoeden van arbeidsomvang, Article 7:610b BW) can mean that your average hours count as the agreed hours. After twelve months of on-call work, the employer must offer you fixed hours. Read when your employer can no longer leave you without work, how the legal presumption of working hours works and what to do if there is no offer of fixed hours.
A call-up is cancelled at short notice
Under an on-call contract, the call-up must in principle be made four days in advance, in writing or electronically. A CLA can shorten that to no less than 24 hours. If the employer withdraws a call-up within that period, you are in principle entitled to wages for the hours of that call-up. Everything about wages when a call-up is cancelled.
Fictitious calculation example. Assumptions: zero-hours contract, no deviating CLA period, fictitious hourly wage of 15 euros gross. On Monday you are called in for a six-hour shift on Saturday. On Thursday your manager sends a message saying the shift is not going ahead. That is within four days before the start, so you remain entitled to six hours’ wages: 90 euros gross, plus the holiday allowance accrued on it.
You structurally work more than your minimum
Under a min-max contract you are entitled to wages for your minimum, even when there is less work. If you work clearly more over a long period, that can be a ground for requesting higher contractual hours. See your rights under a min-max contract.
Wages, overtime or allowances are not paid
Hours worked must be paid, even if they were not on the schedule. In the case of late payment, the statutory increase (Article 7:625 BW) and statutory interest may be owed. A wage claim is in principle subject to a statutory limitation (verjaring) of five years after it becomes due (Article 3:308 BW); you can interrupt the limitation period. Read how to prevent limitation of unpaid wages (in Dutch), what to do about unpaid overtime in hospitality and how we handle a wage claim.
Sickness and end of assignment
Sick on an on-call or zero-hours contract
An empty schedule does not rule out continued payment of wages during sickness (Article 7:629 BW). Decisive factors include whether you had already been called in, whether a legal presumption applies and what your usual hours were. Report sick according to the arrangements and keep call-ups and schedules from before you reported sick. In detail: sick on a zero-hours contract.
Sick as a temporary agency worker
Under the standard temporary agency CLA, the temporary agency clause as a rule cannot be invoked merely because you are sick. Do check which CLA applies to you. An agreed end date does still apply during sickness. From 1 January 2028, the rule that the temporary agency clause cannot be invoked during sickness will also be laid down in the law. Read more about sickness and the temporary agency clause.
The assignment at the hirer ends
In phase A with a temporary agency clause, your temporary agency contract can end if the hirer stops. After that, in phases B and C, your contract continues and the agency must follow the ordinary rules. Which phase you are in and which period applies is explained in the phase system explained and the notice period for temporary agency workers.
Dismissal and compensation
A fixed-term contract can end on its end date without a dismissal procedure. If it lasted six months or longer, the employer must let you know no later than one month in advance whether it will be renewed (Article 7:668 BW). With a fourth fixed-term contract or after more than three years, with breaks of no more than six months, a contract for an indefinite period in principle arises (Article 7:668a BW). A CLA can deviate from this.
- Transition payment. If your contract ends at the employer’s initiative, you are in principle entitled to a transition payment (transitievergoeding, Article 7:673 BW) from the first working day, also as an on-call worker. See the transition payment with a fixed-term contract and the calculation with varying hours.
- Resigning yourself. With a zero-hours contract, a short notice period in principle applies to you. Read how to terminate a zero-hours contract.
- Refused call-up or summary dismissal. A refused call-up is not automatically a refusal to work. Read when refusing work can lead to dismissal.
The time limits here are strict. A challenge to a termination or summary dismissal must be brought before the subdistrict court within two months after the employment ends; for the transition payment the period is three months (Article 7:686a(4) BW). These are expiry periods (vervaltermijnen): a letter to the employer does not stop them. All time limits are listed in the overview of time limits in employment law.
Fictitious example. A temporary agency worker in phase B is summarily dismissed on 3 March. The application to challenge that dismissal must reach the subdistrict court within two months after 3 March. If you wait for the agency to respond to your email of objection, that period may expire.
Employee or self-employed
If you work as a self-employed person or through an app, but the client determines your rate, your working hours and how you work, it may legally be an employment contract (Article 7:610 BW). In the Deliveroo case (24 March 2023, ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443), the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) set out the test: all circumstances count, not only the freedom to turn up for work or to have yourself replaced. Read how to assess whether you are an employee and the practice for delivery riders (in Dutch).
From 31 December 2026 a statutory tool is added: anyone who works for a fee of no more than a certain hourly rate is presumed to be an employee (Article 7:610aa BW, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 158)). The law mentions 36 euros per hour; the amount is indexed and will be set by ministerial regulation before the start. The client can rebut the presumption, and it does not apply to work for a private individual.
For platform work there is a draft bill that introduces a legal presumption of employment when 2 of 5 criteria are met. That bill was open for public internet consultation (in Dutch) until 24 August 2026 and is therefore not yet law. Explanation: the platform work bill (in Dutch).
What changes when?
The Dutch Flexible Workers Act has been published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 205). The commencement decree sets three dates. For now, until 1 January 2028, the current rules therefore still apply to on-call work, successive contracts and agency phases.
| Date | What changes | For whom | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2026 | Legal presumption of an employment contract at a low hourly rate (Article 7:610aa BW, Stb. 2026, 158 and 207) | Self-employed people and other workers paid by the hour | Act published, date set |
| 31 December 2026 | Right to at least equivalent terms of employment as the hirer’s employees (Article 8 of the Placement of Personnel by Intermediaries Act, Waadi) | Temporary agency workers and other employees placed with a hirer | Act published, date set |
| 1 January 2027 | The hirer must also provide timely information on interim changes; the ban on deployment during a strike also applies to the hirer; rules on the fee when you move to the hirer (Articles 9a, 10 and 12a Waadi) | Temporary agency workers, agencies and hirers | Act published, date set |
| 1 January 2028 | Zero-hours contract only for pupils, students, young people under 18 and people of state pension age working on average no more than 16 hours a week; min-max contract with a maximum of 130% of the minimum per quarter; break in the rules on successive contracts from 6 to 36 months; phase A set by law at 52 weeks; temporary agency clause cannot be invoked during sickness; adjusted payroll rules | On-call workers, fixed-term employees, temporary agency and payroll workers | Act published, date set |
The full overview can be found in what the Dutch Flexible Workers Act changes. For zero-hours contracts and students, read what the abolition of the zero-hours contract means.
How we help
We start with what is most urgent: a running time limit, unpaid wages or a contract that will end soon.
- Record the date. In the case of dismissal or the end of your contract, first note the date on which the employment ended or will end. That is when the periods of two and three months start.
- Gather documents. See the list below. If something is missing, request it in writing from your employer or agency.
- Classify the contract. We establish which contract you legally have, which CLA applies and who your employer is.
- Calculate the entitlement. We set agreed, called-in, worked and paid hours side by side.
- Write to the employer. With a substantiated letter which, for wages, also interrupts the limitation period. Where necessary, proceedings before the subdistrict court follow.
Bring to the first consultation:
- your employment or temporary agency contract, previous contracts and any amendments;
- three recent payslips, and for a wage claim all payslips for the disputed period;
- schedules, call-ups and your own record of hours;
- messages via app, email or scheduling app, with date and time;
- in the case of dismissal: the dismissal letter or the message stating the end date;
- the name of the CLA stated on your contract or payslip.
Costs and intake
The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. In it we discuss your situation, the time limits and whether further steps make sense. If you have a low income, subsidised legal aid through a legal aid certificate (toevoeging) may be possible; whether you qualify is decided by the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand). Read more about an employment lawyer with legal aid. If you have legal expenses insurance, it may cover the costs; also see when you may choose your own lawyer. Whether costs can be covered depends on your situation and your policy.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start without a written contract?
An employment contract can also be concluded verbally. Gather payslips, bank statements, schedules and messages showing that you performed work for wages under the employer’s authority. In addition, the employer must inform you in writing about the main terms of employment.
Can I get help with a small job?
Yes. The rules on call-ups, wages and the transition payment also apply when you work few hours. If the amount is small, we discuss in advance whether further steps are proportionate to the costs and which cheaper route is available.
Which documents are needed for a first assessment?
Your contract, three recent payslips, schedules or your own record of hours and the messages with your employer. In the case of dismissal also the message stating the end date, because that is when the time limits start to run.
What does a first assessment cost?
The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. If we then decide on further steps, we discuss the costs in advance and whether a legal aid certificate or your legal expenses insurance may cover part of them.
Does the new flexible work act already apply to my contract?
Largely not yet. The rule on equivalent terms of employment for temporary agency workers applies from 31 December 2026. The rules on zero-hours contracts, min-max contracts, successive contracts and agency phases apply from 1 January 2028.
Does my CLA take precedence over the law?
Only where the law allows a CLA to deviate, such as a shorter call-up period of no less than 24 hours or longer agency phases. If the CLA allows something the law does not permit, the law applies. So check which CLA is stated on your payslip.
Do I lose my rights if I refuse a call-up?
Not automatically. Under a zero-hours contract you may in principle refuse a call-up if it comes at shorter notice than the applicable call-up period. Structurally refusing can, however, affect your relationship with the employer, so record your reason in writing.
Is a time limit running or are your wages not being paid? Have your flexible contract and your documents assessed free of charge, and after one consultation you will know where you stand.
Sources and legal basis
- Dutch Civil Code, Book 7 (in Dutch): Articles 7:610, 7:610b, 7:625, 7:628, 7:628a, 7:629, 7:668, 7:668a, 7:673, 7:686a, 7:691 and 7:692a.
- Dutch Civil Code, Book 3 (in Dutch): Article 3:308 (limitation of wage claims).
- Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 205) (in Dutch): Dutch Flexible Workers Act (Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers).
- Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 206) (in Dutch): entry into force on 31 December 2026, 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028.
- Supreme Court, 24 March 2023 (in Dutch), ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443 (Deliveroo).
- Dutch government, 29 June 2026 (in Dutch): draft bill on platform work in internet consultation.
- Dutch government on contracts for on-call workers (in Dutch).
- Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand) (in Dutch): subsidised legal aid.
Sources consulted on 27 September 2026. The examples are fictitious.