Employment contracts

Dutch employment law applies to you, even if you have moved to the Netherlands with an expatriate employment contract governed by the law of your home country or if you are working for an international organisation.

Most companies and organisations participate in a collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst – CAO (collective labour agreement). This is a written agreement between one or more employers and one or more trade unions about the labour conditions for all employees, such as wages, payment for extra work, working hours, probation period, pension, education and childcare.

The provisions in a CAO are often more favourable than those prescribed by law, but they may not contradict the law.

The most important difference between a temporary and a permanent contract is that a permanent contract has no end date. This means there is no indication of any intention to limit the duration of the contract, such as “for the duration of the project”. Hence, and unlike temporary contracts, there is no mention of an end date in a permanent contract. Also the “term of notice” will be different for a permanent contract, since your legal position is different. The differences for terminating a permanent labour contract are explained below:

• A permanent employment contract can be ended by one of the parties. The legal terms of notice need to be respected.
• The rules are different for employers and employees. The employee has the legal right to end the contract without a procedure but he or she must respect the legal and agreed period, which is usually a minimum of one month’s notice.
• Both employer and employee have the right to go to court and ask to end the permanent labour contract.

The contract with an uitzendbureau (employment agency) differs fundamentally from a contract with an employer. The employment agency is your legal employer while you work in a company that hires you from the employment agency. In particular, your protection against dismissal during a certain temporary period is not regulated. On the other hand, both you and the company you are working for can terminate your employment at any given time during the agreed employment period. Uitzendbureaus have their own CAO (Collective Labour Agreement).

There is a Wet allocatie arbeidskrachten door intermediairs (Allocation of Workers by Intermediaries Act) that regulates issues related to uitzendbureaus. For example:

• Uitzendbureaus are prohibited from deducting any amount from an employee’s salary for the service of providing temporary work.
• Uitzendbureaus must inform temporary workers in writing about the working conditions at the place of work in advance.

Please note that a werving- en selectiebureau (employment/recruitment agency) is not the same as an uitzendbureau. If a placement is via an uitzendbureau, then the person works via the agency for the duration of the assignment, whereas with recruitment, you work for the company straight away, and the agency receives a fee.

Whether you are free from work on public holidays depends on the agreements made between employers and employees in the CAO (collaborative labour agreement) or those in your employment contract.

The Netherlands has one national holiday:

• Koningsdag (King’s Birthday) on 27 April

In addition, there are a number of generally-observed public holidays:

• Nieuwjaarsdag (New Year’s Day)
• Tweede Paasdag (Easter Monday)
• Hemelvaartsdag (Ascension Day)
• Pinksteren (Whit Monday)
• Eerste Kerstdag (Christmas Day)
• Tweede Kerstdag (Boxing Day, also known as Second Christmas Day)

Every employee in the Netherlands is entitled to vacation with full pay. The right to vacation days is built up during the course of a year. The minimum number of vacation days to which you are entitled after one year is four times the agreed number of days you work each week (usually 4 x 5 = 20 days). If you have not yet been employed for one year by an employer, your vacation days will be calculated proportionately.

You will receive full pay during your vacation. In addition, you are entitled to a minimum vacation allowance. The vacation allowance is payable by your employer and is paid at least once a year (usually in May). Your employer must specify the amount of your vacation allowance on payment in your contract.. The vacation allowance amounts to  a minimum 8% of your income in money (basic wage, bonuses and allowances).

The CAO (collaborative labour agreement) might include other agreements about the number of vacation days, the payment, and the amount of the vacation allowance.

Legal vacation entitlements can be saved up to six months. Any extra vacation entitlements (e.g. if you are entitled to more than the minimum number of vacation days) can be saved up to five years. It is also possible for an employee to exchange vacation days for money from the employer, but neither the employer nor the employee can force the other into such an arrangement.

In the Netherlands, all employees receive at least 8% holiday allowance over their gross income during 12 months. It is common to pay it every year in May, but another payment date is possible too.  If you have worked extra hours and got paid for this, the holiday allowance is also calculated over this income.

When you are ill and unable to work, you need to inform your manager as soon as possible. Every organisation has its own rules regarding when you need to inform your employer. Sometimes you need to call the administration. You don’t have to give any medical information. The company doctor (bedrijfsarts) will invite you to see him if your illness lasts longer than just a few days or a few weeks. He will also advise your employer if you can do your work or if there are any limitations to take into account (e.g. fewer hours, no physically heavy work). If you would like to discuss anything with the bedrijfsarts when you are not ill, you can make an appointment. Sometimes employers don’t like this, but you have the legal right to see a bedrijfsarts.

Your manager will probably ask you if there is any work that needs urgently looked after by a colleague and when you expect to be back at work. When your illness lasts longer than 6 weeks your employer must get in touch with you to make a reintegration plan. This plan has to be finished six weeks after you became ill.