If you structurally work more hours than your contract states, there are two different statutory routes. They are often confused, even though they have a different condition, a different effect and a different approach.
So choose the right route first. After that you know what you have to prove.
The two routes side by side
| Route 1: statutory presumption as to working hours | Route 2: offer of fixed working hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code | Article 7:628a(5) of the Dutch Civil Code |
| Who it applies to | Any employee whose employment contract has lasted at least three months | Only where there is an on-call contract |
| Reference period | The three preceding months | The preceding twelve months |
| What it produces | A presumption as to the agreed volume of work, which the employer may rebut | A mandatory offer from the employer for fixed working hours |
| Who has to act | You invoke it; your employer can produce evidence to the contrary | The employer must make an offer on their own initiative, even without you asking |
| Period | No fixed time limit, but do not wait: the reference period moves with you | Within one month after the employment contract has lasted twelve months. You then have one month to accept |
The routes are not mutually exclusive. If you are an on-call worker, they can run alongside each other.
Route 1: the statutory presumption in Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code
The statutory text is short: if an employment contract has lasted at least three months, the agreed work in any given month is presumed to have a volume equal to the average monthly volume of work in the three preceding months.
Three things to understand properly:
- It is a presumption, not an automatic right. Your employer can rebut it, for instance by showing that the three months chosen were exceptional: a peak period, covering for someone off sick, or a one-off project.
- The reference period moves along. What counts are the three months before the month you invoke. If you are back to fewer hours by now, your position weakens. So do not wait too long.
- It concerns the agreed work, and therefore your structural volume, not occasional overtime.
Choose the reference period deliberately. If you averaged 30 hours in March, April and May while your contract says 20, then in June you invoke those three months. If April and May happened to be quiet, another moment is more favourable. That is allowed: you choose the month in which you invoke it.
A worked example
Assumptions. Your contract says 20 hours a week, roughly 86.67 hours a month. In the three preceding months you worked 130, 124 and 136 hours, all of them structurally rostered hours.
- Average: (130 + 124 + 136) divided by 3 = 130 hours a month
- Converted: 130 divided by 4.33 = approximately 30 hours a week
Your agreed work is then presumed to be 30 hours a week instead of 20. That carries through into your wage claim, including in periods when there is less work, and into your continued pay during illness and holidays.
Route 2: the mandatory offer under an on-call contract
If you are an on-call worker, Article 7:628a(5) of the Dutch Civil Code applies in addition. Each time the employment contract has lasted twelve months, the employer must, within one month, make an offer in writing or electronically for fixed working hours at least equal to the average volume over those preceding twelve months.
- The offer concerns fixed working hours taking effect no later than the first day after two months have passed, each time the employment contract has lasted twelve months.
- The period for acceptance is one month. Do not let it slip by unnoticed.
- For the calculation of these periods, employment contracts that followed one another at short intervals are added together.
If your employer makes no offer when they should have, you can claim the wages you would have received had they done so in time. So ask for the offer explicitly, in writing, and note the date.
Other rights under an on-call contract
Article 7:628a of the Dutch Civil Code gives on-call workers three further protections that are separate from the offer:
- A minimum of three hours’ pay. If working hours of less than 15 a week were agreed without set times, or there is an on-call contract, then for every period of less than three hours in which you worked you are entitled to three hours’ pay.
- A four-day call-up period. You cannot be required to respond to a call-up if the employer does not announce the times at least four days in advance, in writing or electronically.
- Pay if the call-up is withdrawn late. If, within four days before the start, the employer withdraws the call-up in whole or in part, or changes the times, you retain the right to the wages you would have been entitled to had you performed the work as called. That withdrawal or change must be made in writing or electronically.
A collective agreement can shorten the four-day period, but not to less than 24 hours.
Prohibition of detrimental treatment. Your employer may not treat you detrimentally because you assert these rights in or out of court, have assisted in doing so, or have complained about it. If you notice you are rostered for fewer hours after your request, record that factually, with dates.
Evidence: what do you gather?
- Your employment contract, with the agreed working hours and the start date
- Payslips for at least the last twelve months, showing the hours paid per period
- Rosters and time records, and the call-up messages with date and time
- Your own monthly overview of hours, distinguishing structural hours from occasional overtime and from covering for others
- Correspondence in which you asked for more hours or for the offer
Prepare that overview of hours carefully. The distinction between structural hours and a one-off peak is precisely where your employer will try to rebut the presumption.
Your request
- Determine the route and the reference period, and work out the average.
- Ask for an adjustment in writing. State the route, the period, the hours worked per month, the average and the volume you are claiming. Ask for a written response within a specific deadline.
- Are you an on-call worker? Then also ask explicitly for the offer of fixed working hours under Article 7:628a(5) of the Dutch Civil Code, and for a statement of the average volume over the past twelve months.
- Keep working and stay available. A dispute about hours is no reason to stop working.
- If your request is refused, ask for the reasoning. If your employer rebuts the presumption, they must make concrete why those months were not representative.
Example wording: "My employment contract records working hours of [x] hours a week. In [month 1], [month 2] and [month 3] I worked [number], [number] and [number] hours respectively, an average of [number] hours a month. Under Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code the agreed work is presumed to have that volume. I request that you adjust my working hours accordingly with effect from [date] and pay the corresponding wages."
Mind the date
A change to Article 7:628a and Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code is scheduled for 1 January 2028, as part of the Dutch Act on More Security for Flexible Workers. Until that date the rules on this page apply in full. If your situation falls around that transition, have it expressly established which regime applies and check the statutory text as it then stands.
If something is also being deducted from your wages, see fines and deductions from your salary. If you work through a temping agency, the collective agreement also determines your phase and your type of contract; see phases A, B and C, and for the periods on termination notice period for temporary workers. If your fixed-term contract is coming to an end, also look at your entitlements at that point in fixed-term contract not renewed.
Do you structurally work more than your contract states? Contact us without obligation and keep your contract, payslips and records of hours to hand.
Frequently asked questions
Do I automatically get more hours if I structurally work overtime?
No — Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code gives a statutory presumption, not an automatic right. If your employment contract has lasted at least three months, the agreed work is presumed to have a volume equal to the average over the three preceding months. Your employer may rebut that presumption, for instance by showing those months were exceptional because of a peak, covering for someone off sick, or a one-off project. You also have to invoke it yourself, and it concerns structural hours, not occasional overtime.
What is the difference from the offer of fixed working hours?
That is a separate route which applies only where there is an on-call contract. Under Article 7:628a(5) of the Dutch Civil Code the employer must, each time the employment contract has lasted twelve months, make an offer within one month, in writing or electronically, for fixed working hours at least equal to the average over those twelve months. So you do not have to ask for it: the employer must do it on their own initiative. The reference period is twelve months instead of three, and it produces a mandatory offer rather than a rebuttable presumption. Your period to accept is one month.
Do I get paid if a call-up is cancelled at the last minute?
Yes, if that happens within four days before the start. If the employer then withdraws the call-up in whole or in part, or changes the times, you retain, under Article 7:628a(3) of the Dutch Civil Code, the right to the wages you would have been entitled to had you performed the work as called. The withdrawal or change must moreover be made in writing or electronically. A collective agreement can shorten that four-day period, but never to less than 24 hours. If you work for less than three hours, you are entitled to three hours’ pay.
May my employer roster me for fewer hours after I have asked for more?
Not as a response to your request. Article 7:628a of the Dutch Civil Code contains a prohibition of detrimental treatment: the employer may not treat you detrimentally because you assert the rights in that article in or out of court, have assisted in doing so, or have complained about it. If you notice you are structurally rostered for fewer hours after your request, record that factually: note the rostered hours per week before and after your request, keep the rosters and the call-up messages, and report it to your employer in writing.
Can my employer use a busy period as a counter-argument?
Yes — that is precisely the point on which the presumption is rebuttable. Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code gives a presumption, not an automatic right: your employer may show that the three months chosen were not representative, for instance because of a seasonal peak, covering for someone off sick, or a one-off project. Set against that, you choose the month in which you invoke the presumption, and you can distinguish structural hours from occasional overtime. A careful monthly overview of hours, drawing that distinction, is therefore your strongest document.
What differs from the fixed-hours offer after twelve months?
Three things. The reference period: three months for the statutory presumption against twelve months for the offer. The effect: a rebuttable presumption against a mandatory offer the employer must make on their own initiative. And the group covered: the presumption in Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code applies to any employee with a contract of at least three months, whereas the offer in Article 7:628a(5) applies only where there is an on-call contract. If you are an on-call worker, both routes can run alongside each other; your period to accept the offer is one month.