False self-employment: are you an employee or a freelancer?

All flexible-work rights in one place. On-call work, temporary agency work (uitzendwerk), self-employment and platform work, payroll employment and the time limits that go with them are brought together in our overview of employment law for flexible workers.

Reference date 27 September 2026

False self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid) means that you work as a self-employed contractor (zzp’er), while in legal terms the working relationship is an employment contract. Whether that is the case is decided by the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) on the basis of Article 7:610 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) and all the circumstances taken together: what kind of work you do, who decides how and when you work, how you are embedded in the business and whether you behave as an entrepreneur. No single factor is decisive on its own; that also goes for a registration with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) or the word “assignment” in your contract. Do you think you are really an employee? Gather your documents, ask in writing for recognition and watch the two-month time limit if your assignment has already ended.

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.

Not the label but the practice

You sign a “contract for services” (overeenkomst van opdracht), you are registered with the Chamber of Commerce and you send an invoice every month. Even so, the court may find that there was an employment contract all along. The law defines one in Article 7:610 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) (in Dutch): you undertake to perform work “in the service of” another party, for wages, for a certain period of time. Work, wages, authority and time: if those elements are present in practice, it is an employment contract, whatever the contract is called.

The Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) made this clear in the Deliveroo judgment of 24 March 2023 (ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443). First you establish which rights and obligations the parties actually agreed, including through their conduct. If those meet the statutory definition, it is an employment contract. Whether the parties intended that is not relevant to the classification (para. 3.2.4).

What a genuine freelance relationship looks like is explained in our article on the contract for services for freelancers.

Who this article is for, and who it is not for

This article is for you if you were hired as a self-employed contractor or freelancer and suspect that it is really employment: for example as a cleaner, handyman, driver, care worker or hospitality worker who works for one party for a long time. It is not intended for:

• clients who want to limit their tax risks;
• self-employed people who want to stay independent and simply have an unpaid invoice;
• delivery riders working through an app: there is a separate article on false self-employment among meal and parcel couriers (in Dutch).

How the court decides whether you are an employee

In the Deliveroo judgment, the Supreme Court lists circumstances that may be relevant (para. 3.2.5). These include:

• the nature and duration of the work;
• who determines the work and the working hours;
• how embedded you are in the client’s organisation;
• whether you have to do the work personally;
• how the contract came about;
• how the pay is determined and paid, and how high it is;
• whether you run a commercial risk;
• whether you behave or can behave as an entrepreneur: reputation, acquisition, tax treatment, number of clients and the length of time for which you commit to one client.

Important for workers: the freedom to turn down shifts does not rule out an employment contract; what matters most is what applies when you do come to work and how often that happens (para. 3.3.4). A substitution clause carries less weight if it means little in practice (para. 3.3.5).

No ranking between the circumstances

On 21 February 2025, in a case between the trade union FNV and Uber, the Supreme Court answered preliminary questions about the entrepreneurship factor (ECLI:NL:HR:2025:319). There is no ranking between the circumstances listed; entrepreneurship does not weigh differently from the other points (para. 3.3). The court may, however, also look at entrepreneurship outside the relationship with this client, such as your other customers and your tax position (para. 3.6.2). As a result, the same work for the same client may be an employment contract for one worker and not for another (para. 3.5).

So the assessment is personal. Your own customers, a website and your own quotes count against employee status; never having found customers yourself points the other way. There is no automatic score.

Evidence route: which circumstances point which way

Use this table to organise your evidence. It is not a calculation model: a column that “wins” does not decide the outcome.

The statutory presumption: now and from 31 December 2026

Now: Article 7:610a BW

If you work for another party for pay, every week or at least twenty hours a month, for three consecutive months, you are presumed to do so under an employment contract (Article 7:610a of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), in Dutch). The client may rebut that presumption. The presumption helps your starting position, but in practice proceedings will still be about all the circumstances in the table above.

From 31 December 2026: presumption in case of a low hourly rate

On 4 July 2025, the government submitted the bill on clarifying the assessment of working relationships and the legal presumption (Vbar). A memorandum of amendment of 10 March 2026 removed the clarification part; only the legal presumption remained. That bill was passed by the House of Representatives on 21 April 2026 and by the Senate on 16 June 2026 (Parliamentary Paper 36 783). The Act is published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 158) and, according to the commencement decree (Stb. 2026, 207), enters into force on 31 December 2026.

The new Article 7:610aa BW then provides: anyone who works for pay up to a certain hourly rate is presumed to be an employee. The statutory text mentions € 36 per hour. That amount is indexed and, for its first application, set by ministerial regulation; so check the current amount, for example on the government business portal Ondernemersplein (in Dutch). The presumption does not apply to work for a private individual who is not acting in the course of a profession or business, and the client may rebut it.

For platform work there is a separate draft bill with its own legal presumption; that is not yet law. See the Platform Work Act and the legal presumption (in Dutch).

What you can claim if you turn out to be an employee

If there is an employment contract, the rules of Title 7.10 of the Dutch Civil Code in principle apply over the entire period. The main claims:

• Wages and minimum wage. If, converted, you earned less than the statutory minimum wage, or less than the wage under an applicable Collective Labour Agreement (CLA, cao), a wage claim may arise for the difference.
• Holiday. An employee accrues holiday of at least four times the weekly working hours per year (Article 7:634 BW, in Dutch). Days not taken can be paid out when the employment ends, but statutory days can lapse.
• Continued payment of wages during sickness. Article 7:629 BW gives an employee who is sick the right to 70% of wages for 104 weeks, and at least the minimum wage in the first 52 weeks. A CLA may give more. More explanation can be found in the employer’s obligation to continue paying wages.
• Protection against dismissal. An employer cannot simply give notice to end an employment contract. Without your written consent, permission from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) or dissolution by the subdistrict court is required (Article 7:671 BW). If it turns out to be an employment contract and the “client” ends the cooperation without following that route, you can ask the subdistrict court to annul the notice or to award you fair compensation (billijke vergoeding) (Article 7:681 BW). See also what you can do if your client ends the assignment.
• Transition payment. If an employment contract ends at the employer’s initiative, a transition payment (transitievergoeding) of one third of a month’s wages per year of service is in principle due (Article 7:673 BW). See the transition payment after dismissal.
• Unemployment benefit (WW). UWV decides for itself whether you were insured as an employee. A ruling from the subdistrict court helps, but does not automatically lead to a benefit. See our help with a WW unemployment benefit.

What you do not get automatically

Recognition as an employee is not a pot of money:

• A client will argue that your rate already included compensation for holiday, sickness and risk. Whether the court sets that off depends on the facts.
• Invoices are not payslips. Which part of your invoiced amount counts as gross wages, and what happens to VAT paid earlier or to the entrepreneur’s tax deduction (ondernemersaftrek), has to be worked out from a tax perspective. Have a tax adviser look at this.
• A declaratory judgment (verklaring voor recht) does not mean that you automatically have a permanent contract for an indefinite period. The rules on temporary contracts and on successive fixed-term contracts (ketenregeling) still apply.
• Old claims may be time-barred or may have lapsed (see the time limits below).

Tax enforcement by the Tax Administration is something else

Since 1 January 2025, the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) has again been enforcing the rules on false self-employment (the DBA Act, Wet DBA); the moratorium has been lifted. According to the Dutch government (in Dutch), the Tax Administration in principle did not yet impose fines for 2025; a transitional period with a so-called soft landing applied. Current information is on the Tax Administration’s page on enforcement of working relationships (in Dutch).

That enforcement concerns payroll taxes (loonheffingen), between the Tax Administration and the client. Your civil claim for wages, holiday or compensation is separate from it. An additional tax assessment does not give you any money, and the absence of an inspection says nothing about your rights. You have to bring your claims yourself.

Exceptions and the role of the CLA

• CLA. If there turns out to be an employment contract, a CLA may apply: because the employer is bound by it or because the CLA has been declared generally binding. That can mean higher wages, allowances or a top-up during sickness, but also its own rules on holiday or time limits for claims.
• Work for a private household. If you usually work fewer than four days a week for a private individual’s household, a limited continued payment of wages during sickness of six weeks applies (Article 7:629(2) BW) and no UWV permission is required for notice of termination (Article 7:671(1)(d) BW). The new hourly-rate presumption does not apply to work for a private individual who is not acting in the course of a profession or business.
• State pension age. Once you have reached the state pension age (AOW-leeftijd), shorter periods apply to continued payment of wages during sickness (Article 7:629(2) BW).

Time limits: statutory limitation and expiry

Statutory limitation (verjaring) and expiry periods (vervaltermijn) work differently:

• Wage claims become time-barred after five years (Article 3:308 BW, in Dutch). A clear written demand interrupts the limitation period; see wage claims: limitation and interruption (in Dutch).
• Annulment of the notice or fair compensation: two months. The request must be filed with the subdistrict court within two months after the end of the employment contract (Article 7:686a(4)(a) BW, in Dutch). This is an expiry period: a letter does not stop it.
• Transition payment: three months after the end of the employment contract (Article 7:686a(4)(b) BW). That is also an expiry period.

You can read more about how the two types of compensation relate to each other in fair compensation in addition to the transition payment.

Step-by-step plan: from suspicion to claim

1. Write down the end date. Has your assignment ended? Put the date plus two months in your diary.
2. Gather your documents before you lose access to apps, e-mail or scheduling. Take dated screenshots.
3. Compare your situation with the evidence route and note for each row which document shows it.
4. Ask in writing for recognition of the employment contract and for payment of wages and other claims, with a reasonable deadline. Such a letter interrupts the limitation period, but not the expiry periods.
5. Have your claims calculated, including anything an applicable CLA adds.
6. Go to the subdistrict court. Ask for a declaratory judgment that there is an employment contract, together with a wage claim. If the dispute concerns the termination, you file a petition within the expiry period; related claims can be included in it (Article 7:686a(3) BW). You are not required to have a lawyer before the subdistrict court.
7. Register with UWV if you are unemployed. UWV makes its own decision.

Evidence you need

• The contract for services and earlier versions, plus general terms and conditions;
• all invoices and bank statements showing payments;
• schedules, planning, time records and screenshots from apps;
• work instructions, protocols, e-mails and WhatsApp messages from managers;
• arrangements about rates and who set them;
• evidence about substitution: was it allowed, did it happen, and with whose permission;
• photos of company clothing, passes, a company car or the client’s tools;
• your Chamber of Commerce extract, any website, other clients and your tax returns (even if they count against you: the court will see them anyway);
• the message in which the cooperation was ended, with its date.

Fictitious example: a cleaner with one client

This is a fictitious example. Since 1 September 2024, Dilan has worked as a “self-employed cleaner” for one cleaning company: 32 hours a week, according to a schedule from the planner’s app, in a shirt with the company logo. The company set the hourly rate of € 20. Substitution is only allowed with approval and has never happened. Dilan has no other customers and has never made quotes herself.

On 1 September 2026 she receives a message saying that “the assignment stops with immediate effect”. Almost all the facts are in the “employee” column and the legal presumption of Article 7:610a BW applies. Even so, it remains a weighing of all the circumstances. If Dilan wants to challenge the termination or ask for fair compensation, her petition must be filed with the subdistrict court within two months after the end.

Fictitious calculation

Assumptions: the hourly rate of € 20 counts as gross hourly wages, there is no CLA with different rules, the employment contract lasted exactly two years and no other wage components such as holiday allowance have been included.

In reality, holiday allowance, for example, also counts towards the transition payment, a CLA may give more, and the client may argue that the rate already covered these costs.

And the handyman with his own van?

Also fictitious: Ruud works four days a week for one property manager, who makes the schedule and inspects his work. He drives his own van with his own tools and works for his own customers on Fridays through his website. The scheduling and inspection point to authority; the van, tools and own customers point to entrepreneurship, which according to the Supreme Court simply counts as well. Without all the documents, the outcome here cannot be predicted.

Frequently asked questions

Is having one client enough for false self-employment?

No, not on its own. The number of clients is one of the circumstances the court weighs. If you work exclusively for one party for a long time, according to its schedule and instructions, that points more towards an employment contract when combined with other facts.

Does a Chamber of Commerce registration make a difference?

Not much. A registration says something about how you present yourself, but the court looks at what happens in practice. The court may, however, take into account your entrepreneurship outside this client, such as other customers, acquisition and your tax treatment.

Can I claim wages afterwards if I turn out to be an employee?

Yes, for example the difference with the minimum wage or a CLA wage, wages for periods of sickness and holiday not taken. Wage claims in principle become time-barred after five years. A written demand interrupts that limitation period. The client may, however, argue that your rate already covered those items.

Am I an employee if I choose my own assignments or shifts?

That is still possible. According to the Supreme Court, the freedom to come to work or to turn down assignments does not rule out an employment contract. What matters most is what applies when you do work, and how often and for how long that happens.

Do I get money if the Tax Administration inspects my client?

No. Tax enforcement concerns payroll taxes between the Tax Administration and the client. You have to bring your own claims for wages, holiday or compensation against the client and, if necessary, before the subdistrict court.

Which time limit applies if my assignment has already ended?

If you want to challenge the termination or ask for fair compensation, your request must be filed with the subdistrict court within two months after the end. For the transition payment, the limit is three months. These are expiry periods that a letter does not extend.

Still unsure whether other rules apply to you as a flexible worker, for example as an on-call worker or through payroll employment? Then see all the rights of flexible workers in one place. Would you like to know whether your freelance assignment is really employment and what you can then claim? Put your working relationship to us, even if your assignment has only just ended.

Sources and legal basis

• Dutch Civil Code, Book 7 (in Dutch): Articles 7:610, 7:610a, 7:629, 7:634, 7:671, 7:673, 7:681 and 7:686a.
• Dutch Civil Code, Book 3 (in Dutch): Article 3:308 (statutory limitation).
• Supreme Court, 24 March 2023, ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443 (Deliveroo), paras. 3.2.2 to 3.3.5 (in Dutch).
• Supreme Court, 21 February 2025, ECLI:NL:HR:2025:319 (Uber, preliminary ruling), paras. 3.3 to 3.6.2 (in Dutch).
• Senate, bill 36 783: legal presumption of an employment contract based on an hourly rate, with memorandum of amendment (Vbar) (in Dutch).
• Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Stb. 2026, 158) (the Act) and (Stb. 2026, 207) (entry into force on 31 December 2026) (in Dutch).
• Ondernemersplein (RVO): a low hourly rate for a self-employed contractor may lead to an employment contract (in Dutch).
• Dutch government, 18 December 2024: enforcement of false self-employment from 1 January 2025 (in Dutch).
• Dutch Tax and Customs Administration: working relationships and enforcement (in Dutch).
• Dutch government, 29 June 2026: draft bill on platform work in public consultation (in Dutch).

Sources consulted on 27 September 2026. The examples are fictitious; whether your working relationship is an employment contract depends on all the circumstances of your own case.

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