Niederländisches Arbeitsrecht im Jahr 2026: Was hat sich geändert und was gilt jetzt?

Dutch employment law changed far less in 2026 than the headlines suggest. Dismissal still needs prior review by the UWV or the subdistrict court, the chain rule for fixed-term contracts still has its six-month interruption, and the transition payment (transitievergoeding) is still due from the first working day. What did move is the enforcement of false self-employment, the deadline for the pension transition and one wage-cost subsidy. On top of that, several bills have been adopted but are not yet in force. For the framework as a whole, see our guide to Niederländisches Arbeitsrecht.

Was hat sich im niederländischen Arbeitsrecht im Jahr 2026 geändert?

Three changes took effect around the start of 2026, and one deadline was formally pushed back.

Wurde der Lohnkostenvorteil für ältere Arbeitnehmer abgeschafft?

Yes. The wage cost benefit for older employees (loonkostenvoordeel oudere werknemer) was abolished with effect from 1 January 2026. Transitional law keeps it alive for employees who entered service before 1 January 2024, and that entitlement runs until 1 January 2027 at the latest.

If you built this subsidy into a business case for hiring older workers, you should recalculate. The other wage cost benefits, including the one for employees with an occupational disability, were not abolished.

Wann müssen Pensionskassen das neue Rentensystem einhalten?

The final date for bringing pension schemes in line with the Wet toekomst pensioenen (Future Pensions Act) is now 1 January 2028. That extension is statute, not a policy intention: the Eerste Kamer passed the bill extending the transition period on 2 December 2025.

The same act moves several transition dates from the statute into an order in council (algemene maatregel van bestuur). A further adjustment therefore no longer needs a full legislative round. Amending a pension scheme changes the terms of employment, which normally needs the consent of the employees, the works council or the parties to the collective agreement.

Was hat sich für Arbeitgeber geändert, die auf die IND warten?

This change sits in immigration law, so it is easy to miss. Since 15 April 2025 the administrative penalty payment (bestuurlijke dwangsom) for late decisions by the IND has been abolished for good, after a temporary suspension that started in 2020.

If you are waiting for a residence permit for a new hire, you can still lodge an appeal against the failure to decide. A penalty set by the court remains possible. But there is no longer an automatic financial sanction running in the background, so your recruitment planning for international staff has to allow for longer waits.

Wie wird der Mindestlohn festgelegt?

Since 1 January 2024 the statutory minimum wage is an hourly wage. A full-time employee on a 40-hour week therefore earns more per month than one on a 36-hour week.

The amount itself is adjusted twice a year by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and published in the Staatscourant. Always check the current figure rather than one quoted in an older contract or article.

Welche neuen Gesetze wurden verabschiedet, sind aber noch nicht in Kraft getreten?

Several employment bills have completed their passage through parliament but still wait for a royal decree that brings them into force. Until then, the old rules apply in full, and a clause drafted for the future regime can be void under the current one.

Was wird das Gesetz zur Erhöhung der Rechtssicherheit für flexible Arbeitnehmer ändern?

The Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers has been adopted, with entry into force to be set by royal decree. Its central change is to the chain rule in article 7:668a of the Dutch Civil Code. The interruption after which a new chain of fixed-term contracts may start becomes three years, instead of the six months that applies today.

The act also tightens the on-call regime. Zero-hour contracts are replaced by a basic contract that guarantees a minimum number of hours.

Two points are often reported wrongly. First, the rule that an on-call employee must be called up at least four days in advance, and keeps the right to pay if the call is withdrawn later than that, is not new. It has applied since 2020 under article 7:628a of the Civil Code. Second, the new interruption period is three years, not five.

Welche rechtliche Vermutung basiert auf dem Stundensatz?

A separate act introduces a rebuttable presumption of an employment contract for workers whose hourly rate is at or below a set threshold (€38 in the bill). It has been adopted and published in the Staatsblad, but it is not yet in force. Until it is, you should treat it only as a future rule.

The part of the original proposal that would have clarified the criteria for telling employment and self-employment apart was dropped during the legislative process. Once the presumption applies, a worker below the threshold can invoke it, and the hirer must then prove that the relationship is not an employment contract. Until then, the ordinary rules of evidence apply.

Benötigen Agenturen, die Personal abstellen, eine Zulassung?

Yes, from 2027. The Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten (Wtta) introduces an admission requirement for temporary work agencies and other businesses that second staff. Admission is decided by the Nederlandse Autoriteit Uitleenmarkt (Dutch Labour Supply Market Authority).

The sequence is fixed. Applications run from 1 November to 31 December 2026, the admission requirement applies from 1 January 2027, and enforcement starts on 1 January 2028. Hirers are affected too. A business that hires staff from an agency without admission can itself be fined once enforcement begins. If you hire in staff, map your suppliers well before that date.

Wie steht es um die Gehaltstransparenz?

The bill implementing the EU pay transparency directive was submitted to the Tweede Kamer on 21 May 2026 and has not yet been adopted. The transposition deadline of 7 June 2026 has therefore passed without Dutch implementation. The bill aimed at entry into force on 1 January 2027, but that date is now uncertain.

That does not leave you in a vacuum. Equal pay for equal work between men and women is already binding under the Wet gelijke behandeling van mannen en vrouwen and under EU law directly. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (College voor de Rechten van de Mens) already hears complaints about unequal pay. What is not yet enforceable is the machinery of the directive: pay ranges in vacancies, the ban on asking candidates about their pay history, and the reporting and joint pay assessment obligations for larger employers.

Was gilt aktuell bei der Beauftragung von selbstständigen Auftragnehmern?

The enforcement moratorium under the Wet DBA ended on 1 January 2025. The tax authorities can again impose additional assessments for false self-employment, although 2025 was treated as a transitional year in which employers acting in good faith would not receive penalties for gross negligence.

The substantive test has not changed. Under article 7:610 of the Civil Code an agreement is an employment contract if there is work, pay and a relationship of authority. In its Deliveroo judgment of 24 March 2023 the Supreme Court held that this must be assessed on all the circumstances taken together. That includes the way the work is embedded in the organisation and whether the worker genuinely behaves as an entrepreneur. The label on the contract is not decisive.

Two consequences follow. First, requalification is not only a tax problem. A worker who shows in civil proceedings that the relationship was employment can also claim the protection that comes with it, including dismissal protection, continued pay during illness and holiday entitlement. Second, the exposure runs backwards over the whole period the relationship existed.

Reviewing model agreements, day-to-day instructions and the substitution clause is therefore worth more than a new contract template. Our note on Pflichten des Arbeitgebers und des Arbeitnehmers beschreibt, wie eine Autoritätsbeziehung in der Praxis aussieht.

Welche Regeln für transparente und vorhersehbare Arbeitsbedingungen gelten?

Seit der Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinie über transparente und vorhersehbare Arbeitsbedingungen in den Niederlanden gelten vier Regeln, die Arbeitgeber, die mit älteren Vertragsvorlagen arbeiten, oft überraschen. Sie sind rechtskräftig und verbindlich; Klauseln, die ihnen widersprechen, sind unwirksam.

Was, wenn die Arbeitszeiten unvorhersehbar sind?

Where the working pattern is largely unpredictable, the contract has to state the reference days and hours within which the employee can be called on. Outside that window the employee may refuse the work without consequences.

An employee with a contract of at least 26 weeks can also ask for more predictable working hours. The employer must answer in writing and give reasons.

Wer bezahlt die Pflichtschulungen?

Training that the employer must provide by law or by collective agreement is free for the employee. It counts as working time and, where possible, takes place during working hours. A study costs clause covering that training is void.

This concerns training on safety, working conditions and keeping the current job. It does not cover professional diplomas that were a condition of being hired in the first place.

Kann man einem Mitarbeiter verbieten, woanders zu arbeiten?

A blanket ban on working elsewhere is no longer enforceable. The employer may only rely on such a clause where there is an objective justification, such as health and safety, the working time rules, protection of confidential information or avoiding a conflict of interest.

That justification does not have to be written into the contract. It does have to exist at the moment the employer invokes the clause.

Was muss der Arbeitgeber dem Arbeitnehmer mitteilen?

Der Arbeitgeber muss den Arbeitnehmer deutlich umfassender informieren als bisher. Dies umfasst den Arbeitsort bzw. dessen Wechsel, die Regelungen zu Überstunden und deren Vergütung, das Kündigungsverfahren einschließlich der Kündigungsfristen sowie den Anspruch auf Weiterbildung. Bei Auslandseinsätzen sind zusätzlich das Land, die Dauer, die Währung der Vergütung und etwaige Rückführungsregelungen zu berücksichtigen. Die meisten dieser Informationen müssen innerhalb einer Woche nach Arbeitsbeginn mitgeteilt werden.

Was hat sich im Kündigungsrecht nicht geändert?

The backbone of Dutch employment law is untouched by the 2026 changes, and this is where most disputes still arise. An employer cannot terminate an open-ended contract unilaterally without prior review.

Dismissal for business economic reasons or after long-term incapacity for work goes to the UWV. All other grounds, including underperformance, a damaged working relationship and the cumulative ground, go to the subdistrict court. The grounds are listed exhaustively in article 7:669 of the Civil Code. The employer must also show that redeployment in a suitable alternative role is not possible within a reasonable period.

Welche Kündigungsfristen gelten?

Notice periods are set by article 7:672 of the Civil Code. The statutory period for the employer runs from one to four months, depending on the length of the employment. The employee gives one month.

If the contract lengthens the employee’s notice period, the employer’s period must be at least twice as long. A contract that gives both parties two months is therefore defective, and the longer period does not bind the employee.

Wann ist die Übergangszahlung fällig?

The transition payment accrues from the first working day. It is therefore due even where the employer ends the contract during the probationary period. Its maximum is adjusted each year, with a gross annual salary as the alternative cap where that is higher. Do not rely on a figure quoted in an older article.

Two limits are worth knowing in advance. There is no entitlement if the employee resigns without seriously culpable conduct by the employer. And under article 7:673c of the Civil Code the transition payment is no longer owed if the employer is declared bankrupt, is granted a suspension of payments or falls under the debt restructuring scheme for natural persons. The UWV wage guarantee scheme covers unpaid wages and holiday pay, but not the transition payment.

Wie funktioniert eine Vergleichsvereinbarung?

The alternative route is unchanged as well. Many employment relationships in the Netherlands end with a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst). The employer takes the initiative in writing, so that the employee keeps entitlement to unemployment benefit, provided the notice period is observed.

The employee has a statutory reflection period of fourteen days to withdraw consent. That right must be stated in the agreement. If it is not, the reflection period is three weeks instead.

Was sollten internationale Arbeitgeber beachten?

If you recruit from abroad, the employment side and the immigration side have to be arranged together. A highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) can only be employed by a sponsor that the IND has recognised. The IND sets the salary criteria for each year and each age category, and the permit is tied to that employer.

Ending the employment therefore affects the right of residence. The employee has a search period of in principle three months, six months if the employment ends on or after 22 May 2026 after at least two years on the permit, and the employer must inform the IND. Our page on the Verfahren für hochqualifizierte Migranten legt die Bedingungen im Detail dar.

Two further points regularly go wrong in international structures. First, Dutch mandatory employment law applies to work habitually performed in the Netherlands, whatever the contract says about governing law. A choice of law cannot deprive the employee of the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where the work is habitually carried out.

Second, the expat tax facility for incoming employees is a tax matter that you should confirm with a tax adviser. On the corporate side, the interaction between employment obligations and cross-border structures is covered in our overview of internationales Wirtschaftsrecht.

Was sollten Sie als Arbeitgeber überprüfen?

Most 2026 deadlines fall on employers. Check these points for the coming year:

• Will the pension scheme be in line with the Wet toekomst pensioenen before 1 January 2028, with the required consent?
• Do your agencies and other suppliers of staff apply for Wtta admission between 1 November and 31 December 2026?
• Do your contracts with self-employed contractors pass the authority test of the Deliveroo judgment, not only the label?
• Have you removed the wage cost benefit for older employees from the budget, except where the transitional rule still applies?
• Do older templates still contain a study costs clause for compulsory training or a blanket ban on ancillary work?

Was sollten Sie als Mitarbeiter überprüfen?

For employees the time limits matter most. Check these points:

• A challenge to a summary dismissal or a request for fair compensation must be filed within two months of the day the contract ended.
• Do not sign a settlement agreement on the day it is presented; you have fourteen days to withdraw.
• Does the settlement agreement state that the initiative came from the employer, so that your unemployment benefit (WW) is protected?
• If you work as a self-employed contractor, does the relationship in practice look like employment under Article 7:610 BW?
• If your residence permit depends on your job, when does your search period start and end?

What can we do for you with Dutch employment law in 2026?

Unsere Arbeitsrechtsanwälte advise employers and employees on the current rules and the changes ahead.

• We review your employment contracts and templates against the rules that apply today.
• We assess contracts with self-employed contractors against the Deliveroo criteria.
• We check your agency suppliers and hiring arrangements against the Wtta timetable.
• We draft or review settlement agreements, including the wording for WW entitlement.
• We file applications to the subdistrict court within the two-month deadline.

Zusammenfassung

• Der Kern des niederländischen Kündigungsrechts bleibt im Jahr 2026 unverändert: vorherige Überprüfung durch die UWV oder das zuständige Amtsgericht, die Kündigungsgründe gemäß Artikel 7:669 des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches und eine Übergangszahlung ab dem ersten Tag.
• Die Lohnkostenvergünstigung für ältere Arbeitnehmer endete am 1. Januar 2026, und die Pensionssysteme müssen bis zum 1. Januar 2028 auf das neue System umgestellt werden.
• Das Gesetz zur Schaffung von mehr Rechtssicherheit für flexible Arbeitnehmer (dreijährige Unterbrechung) und die Vermutung des Stundenlohns wurden zwar verabschiedet, sind aber noch nicht in Kraft getreten.
• Agenturen, die Personal vermitteln, benötigen ab dem 1. Januar 2027 eine Wtta-Zulassung; die Durchsetzung der Bestimmungen gegenüber Agenturen und Arbeitgebern erfolgt ab dem 1. Januar 2028.
• Die Regelungen zur Scheinselbstständigkeit werden ab 2025 wieder verstärkt durchgesetzt; maßgeblich ist der Deliveroo-Test, der alle Umstände berücksichtigt, nicht die Kennzeichnung.

Häufig gestellte Fragen