No offer of fixed hours after twelve months of on-call work

Reference date 16 September 2026

Have you been working on an on-call basis for a year and is your employment continuing? Then your employer must, within one month, make you an offer in writing or electronically for fixed working hours. The number of hours offered must at least correspond to the average over the preceding twelve months. If a correct offer is not made, you may be entitled to wages for the hours that should have been offered.

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: 17 September 2026.

This right exists alongside the legal presumption of working hours after three months. So you do not have to choose between relying solely on your contract on paper and relying solely on the past year. It must, however, be clear which legal rule you are using for which period. Moreover, fixed hours do not automatically mean that a temporary contract is continued for an indefinite period.

Below you can read how the rules work as at 16 September 2026, how to calculate the average and which documents you need to challenge a missing or insufficient offer.

What exactly does the duty to make an offer involve

Article 7:628a(5) of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) requires the employer, after every period of twelve months of on-call work, to make an offer of fixed hours within one month. The employer must act on its own initiative. An employee does not first have to submit a formal request for the obligation to arise.

The offer must be made in writing or electronically and must be clear enough to be accepted. A conversation in which your manager says you are welcome to work a bit more often is not the same as a specific offer of fixed working hours. Nor does a new flexible schedule simply replace a contractual guarantee of hours.

The period for accepting the offer is one month. The fixed hours offered must take effect no later than the first day after two months have passed since the relevant twelve months were reached. The employer therefore cannot postpone the start date indefinitely once the offer has been made.

Distinguish between the moment by which an offer must have been made, the acceptance period and the latest start date. Those moments play different roles when you claim wages afterwards. So keep the message containing the offer, including the date it was sent, its content and your response.

Which contracts does this apply to

The rule applies to an on-call contract within the meaning of the law. That usually covers zero-hours contracts and min-max contracts. The working hours and the arrangements on continued payment of wages determine the legal classification. An employer cannot simply avoid the rule by calling the document a flexible contract or a student contract.

A contract with a fixed annual number of hours and wages spread evenly over the year may be assessed differently. For certain seasonal jobs, too, a specific exception in the collective labour agreement (cao) may exist. A reference to busy summers or a fluctuating number of customers is not in itself sufficient to assume such an exception.

If you work through an employment agency or payroll company, find out who your employer is and which special rules apply. Show the chain of contracts and assignments. The party that draws up the schedule is not necessarily the same party that must make the offer.

Does the employer also have to renew your contract

The obligation to offer fixed hours is not the same as an obligation to renew a temporary contract. An employment contract can validly end on the agreed end date. The offer rule concerns the amount of work within the employment relationship, not in itself its duration.

If the employment continues, however, the employer must assess the duty to make an offer. It cannot simply start again from zero by using a new on-call contract on paper. Rules on successive contracts and successive employership can cause earlier periods to count.

Whether you are now entitled to a permanent contract must be examined under the rules on successive fixed-term contracts (ketenregeling). Fixed hours, a fixed term and a fixed schedule are therefore three different matters. In correspondence, make sure it is recorded precisely which element is being changed or disputed.

How do you calculate the number of hours to be offered

The offer must be at least equal to the average working hours over the relevant preceding twelve months. Choose one unit of calculation and use it consistently. If you calculate per month, add up the relevant hours over that period and divide the total by twelve. Then compare the result with what the employer is actually offering.

Fictitious example. Over a full relevant year, the working hours total 1,248 hours. That is an average of 104 hours per month. An offer of eighty fixed hours per month is then below that average. The employer must explain why it considers its calculation to be correct nonetheless; merely referring to quieter times ahead for the business is not sufficient for that purpose.

Note the difference between calendar months and four-week periods. A payroll system with thirteen four-week periods requires a different calculation from twelve monthly payslips. Do not divide a four-week total by twelve without converting it first. Also note whether the number of hours offered applies per week, per month or per year.

It is not only about hours physically worked. According to the parliamentary explanatory memorandum, hours on which no work is done but for which there is a right to wages, such as relevant hours of sickness and holiday, must also be taken into account. Do not count those hours twice if they have already been included in the administrative total.

Which hours and periods deserve extra attention

Alongside the count of hours, add a brief explanation of months that stand out. Think of sickness, paid leave, unpaid leave, a break in the contract or missing payslips. This makes it clear why a lower number of hours actually worked does not always mean a lower average to be applied.

Wages for protected call-ups that were withdrawn may also be relevant to the assessment. So show which wage rights are already established and which are still disputed. An employer that wrongly never recorded certain hours cannot simply benefit from its own incomplete records.

The twelve-month rule involves a statutory calculation of the average. That differs from the debate about a representative period under the legal presumption in Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code. Do not mix up those routes by presenting only the busiest three months as the mandatory annual volume. A higher entitlement on another basis can, however, be examined separately.

Successive contracts and a different employer

Under the current offer rule, successive employment contracts with intervals of no more than six months are added together for the relevant calculation. The exact timeline is important. A series of temporary contracts may therefore lead to a duty to make an offer earlier than the start date on the latest document suggests.

Successive employership may also be at issue where different employers are involved. That requires a substantive assessment of the work performed and the transition. The statutory rule does not look solely at the name of the business on the latest payslip.

Put all contracts in order, with start date, end date, position, workplace and employer. Keep messages about a takeover, a change of agency or the continuation of the same work. For further explanation, you can read about successive employers and how agency work counts.

No offer may mean wage arrears

Article 7:628a(8) of the Dutch Civil Code gives a wage entitlement for the period during which the employer has not complied with the relevant obligation. The working hours on which the calculation is based are the hours for which an offer should have been made. An employer can therefore bear a wage risk while in fact having scheduled far fewer hours.

The first day of your second year of employment is not automatically the start of this specific claim: the employer first has the statutory period in which to make the offer. Have the start of the non-compliance and the eventual claim period determined carefully. In doing so, the latest start date for hours offered on time must not be confused with the period for making an offer at all.

Fictitious example. An offer of 104 hours per month should have been made. For three later months falling entirely within the established claim period, sixty hours were paid each month. The difference is 44 hours per month, so 132 hours. At a fictitious relevant hourly wage of € 20 gross, that comes to € 2,640 gross. Cao supplements, holiday allowance, sickness and other adjustments must be assessed separately.

Deduct wages already received correctly and check that gross is compared with gross. The average number of hours is the basis of the calculation, not an extra payment on top of everything already paid for the same hours.

Did you always have to ask for shifts yourself

The wage protection that applies when the mandatory offer is not made is a separate statutory rule. It cannot simply be rejected on the argument that you should have asked for work yourself every week. According to the parliamentary explanation, for this specific entitlement you do not need to show in the usual way that you kept yourself available for all those hours.

That does not mean that all other facts are irrelevant. An offer made earlier, a refusal, termination of the contract and the precise claim period can change the outcome. So remain reachable and record arrangements about availability honestly. The legal protection is no reason to ignore existing work arrangements.

If you are no longer called up at all after raising a wage issue, ask in writing whether the employer takes the position that your contract has ended. No longer scheduling someone and a legally valid dismissal are different events, with different procedures and time limits.

Can you refuse fixed hours

Yes. You may refuse a correct offer if, for example, you want to keep flexibility alongside your studies. Your employer must then make a new offer in accordance with the statutory cycle. Make sure it is clear which offer you are refusing, for what number of hours and with what start date.

Refusing a proper offer is something other than responding that the calculation is too low. In a dispute, state specifically that you are asking for a correct offer and why. This prevents a substantive objection from later being presented as a general choice never to want fixed hours.

Also make sure you do not unknowingly waive wage rights for earlier periods. A change to future hours and a settlement of wage arrears must be separately identifiable. Have a document containing a full and final discharge reviewed before you agree to it.

What the Supreme Court says about refusal and the legal presumption

On 28 November 2025, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) clarified that the offer rule and the legal presumption of working hours exist side by side. An employee who did not accept an offer of fixed hours can still rely on Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code. That is also possible with retroactive effect. See ECLI:NL:HR:2025:1802, in particular paragraphs 3.2.1 to 3.3 inclusive.

This judgment does not mean that every desired wage claim automatically succeeds. The employee must still substantiate the working hours relied on, and the presumption can be rebutted. However, the mere refusal of an offer of hours is not a general bar to the other statutory route of protection.

In practice, you should therefore ask two questions: has the employer complied with its duty to make an offer, and, in addition, is there a substantiated entitlement to a certain number of working hours based on your actual deployment? Also read our general explanation of the legal presumption.

Assessing an offer that is too low or unclear

Compare the number of hours offered with your own calculation. Also check the start date, the unit of calculation and any new conditions. An offer that links fixed hours to a lower hourly wage, a different position or the waiver of existing entitlements deserves a separate assessment.

A higher guarantee of hours does not automatically make an unfavourable change on other points legally valid. Ask for an overview naming only the elements that are changed. Keep the old contract, so that it remains clear which rights already existed.

Respond within the acceptance period if possible. State what you do accept and what you would like explained, without unintentionally rejecting the whole offer. If in doubt, seeking legal advice in good time is wiser than staying silent until the period has expired.

A practical step-by-step plan

Start with the start date and all successive contracts. Then establish why this is an on-call contract. Gather the payslips and time records for the relevant twelve months and calculate the average. Add paid leave and other relevant paid hours correctly.

Next, find all messages about fixed hours offered and your responses to them. Note whether the offer was made on time, was clear and was high enough. Calculate any wage shortfall per period, listing payments received separately. Ask the employer in writing for its calculation and a correct offer.

If no solution is reached, have it assessed whether a formal demand for wages, legal proceedings or a combination of legal grounds is appropriate. At Arslan Advocaten, we can review the series of hours and the history of offers and discuss the options for a wage claim.

Sample message to your employer

“My on-call contract reached twelve months on [date]. I have not yet received an offer in writing or electronically for fixed working hours that complies with Article 7:628a of the Dutch Civil Code. According to the attached overview, the average working hours over the relevant period amount to [number] hours per [month/week].”

“I request a correct offer with a start date, together with your underlying calculation of hours. I would also like to receive a specification of the wages owed for the period of non-compliance. I reserve my claims to wage arrears, applicable supplements and any higher working hours on another legal basis. I look forward to receiving a substantive response by [date] at the latest.”

Adapt this message if an offer has in fact been made. In that case, state why you consider the offer too low, too late or unclear. An accurate account of the history is more helpful than a standard letter that leaves out relevant offers.

Frequently asked questions

Do I automatically get a permanent contract after a year

No. The duty to make an offer concerns fixed working hours. Whether the employment is for an indefinite period follows from other arrangements and rules, including the rules on successive fixed-term contracts. A temporary contract can have fixed hours.

Do I first have to ask for fixed hours myself

The employer must make the statutory offer on its own initiative. A written request does help, however, to record the failure, to ask for the calculation and to resolve the problem.

Do sickness and holidays count towards the average

Hours for which there is a right to wages can count, even if you did not actually work. So check how sickness and paid holiday have been recorded. Unpaid leave and breaks in the contract require a separate assessment.

Can my employer start counting twelve months again on renewal

Not simply. Successive contracts can be added together. Successive employership may also be relevant. So provide the full contract history, not just the latest document.

Can I claim wages for earlier years

That may be possible for periods in which the duty to make an offer was not complied with. Wage instalments are in principle subject to a limitation period of five years, which must be correctly interrupted where necessary. The exact start date, earlier offers and payments determine the amount.

Is a verbal conversation sufficient as an offer

The law requires an offer in writing or electronically. In a dispute, it must be possible to establish its content and timing. So always ask for a specific written confirmation stating the hours and the start date.

Do I lose other rights if I refused fixed hours

Not automatically. The Supreme Court confirms that relying on the legal presumption remains possible alongside it, including for earlier periods. That does still require separate substantiation and assessment.

All the rules for on-call work in one place, with the article that explains each question in full: on-call workers: your rights at a glance.

Sources and legal basis

• Dutch Civil Code, Book 7: Articles 7:610b and 7:628a, in particular paragraphs 5 to 8 inclusive.
• Supreme Court, 28 November 2025, ECLI:NL:HR:2025:1802.
• Explanatory memorandum to the Balanced Labour Market Act (WAB), on-call contracts and explanation of Article 7:628a.
• Dutch government on the offer after one year.

Sources consulted on 16 September 2026. The examples are fictitious; the specific offer and claim period must be determined for each employment relationship.

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