Political shift puts labour proposals on hold

At a glance

• On 3 June 2025, the current Dutch cabinet stepped down. Since then, the current cabinet is only a caretaking cabinet and therefore only handles current affairs and it avoids controversial topics until a new House of Representatives (and cabinet) has been put in place following new elections which will take place on 29 October 2025.
• It is unclear whether some of the recent proposals for new legislation will be addressed before or after the elections. The government published several important legislative initiatives with the main one being the draft bill to implement the EU Gender Pay Transparency Directive, aimed at promoting equal pay between men and women.
• Other important active legislative proposals, include (i) the bill that introduces a licensing system for companies that want to assign workers to other companies, (ii) the draft bill that provides more security for flex workers (including a ban on zero-hour contracts) and (iii) the status of new legislative initiatives to provide clarity on the reclassification of employment agreements.

Admission for Allocation of Workers Act

The Admission for Allocation of Workers Act introduces a licensing system for companies that assign workers to other companies. The goal is to improve the position of flexible (agency) workers, particularly foreign workers. Companies will have to obtain a license from the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. To obtain such a license a company will, among other things, have to demonstrate compliance with existing labour laws (eg paying the correct wages, only hiring workers with the right to work in the Netherlands and compliance with tax laws). The license is valid for four years and compliance will be periodically monitored. Hiring companies will only be allowed to hire workers from licensed providers and must verify this themselves.

The license system will apply to every company that assigns workers to another company (this also includes Employer of Record companies). However, companies that only assign a limited part of their total workforce may apply for an exemption from the licensing requirement. The Netherlands Labour Inspectorate will enforce the licensing system and will also use the license system to further enforce compliance with applicable labour laws.

The bill is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2027, with the licensing requirement taking effect from 1 January 2028. The bill has already been accepted by the House of Representatives and is currently being discussed by the Senate.

More Security for Flexible Workers Act 

The More Security for Flexible Workers Act aims to provide employees with flexible contracts with more certainty about their work and income. To strengthen the position of on-call workers, the use of zero-hour contracts will be banned and will be replaced with base contracts that include a minimum number of hours. The only exception to this will be specific groups of employees (eg students). Staffing agencies will also be able to continue to make use of their current flexibility.

Stricter rules will also apply to temporary contracts. Currently, employers may offer three temporary contracts within a three-year period, with a six-month break before starting a new cycle. This break will be extended to five years. Temporary agency workers will also gain permanent contracts more quickly and will be entitled to the same employment conditions as permanent employees performing similar work.

The bill has been submitted to the House of Representatives. If the bill is accepted by the Dutch government, the bill is expected to take effect on 1 January 2027. The bill is currently still under review and the new government will have to form an opinion on this.

Self-Employed Persons Act

The Self-Employed Persons Act has also been published by a few political parties but has not yet been submitted to the House of Representatives. The draft bill includes a new legal assessment framework to determine when a worker is an independent contractor and not an employee. This framework aims to provide more legal certainty and combat false self-employment. This remains a hot topic, and the new government will have to decide on how to best address false self-employment.