Posted EU workers in the Netherlands: permits, wages and notification

An employee of a company established in another EU member state does not need a work permit to work temporarily in the Netherlands. The foreign employer must, however, notify the posting before work starts and apply the core Dutch terms of employment from the first day; the exception is a worker from outside the EU, who must meet extra conditions.

The obligations run along three separate tracks: terms of employment under the Terms of Employment of Posted Workers in the European Union Act (Wet arbeidsvoorwaarden gedetacheerde werknemers in de Europese Unie, WagwEU), social security under Regulation (EC) 883/2004, and tax under the tax treaty between the Netherlands and the sending state. Each track is answered separately. An A1 certificate says nothing about which terms of employment apply, and neither says where wage tax is due.

Do workers from another EU country need a work permit?

No. Under Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Regulation (EU) 492/2011, EU citizens may work in the Netherlands without a work permit, whether a Dutch or a foreign company employs them.

The same applies to nationals of the other EEA countries and Switzerland. A foreign company that sends its own staff can also rely on the freedom to provide services (Article 56 TFEU). A posted worker from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland may be posted without a Dutch work permit only if he or she is lawfully employed and resident in the sending state and the posting is notified.

When is a worker posted?

A worker is posted when the foreign employer temporarily sends him or her to the Netherlands to work, while the employment contract with that employer continues. Posting is common in construction, installation, transport, technology and consultancy.

In general, posting requires that:

• the worker has an employment contract with the foreign company, which remains the employer;
• the work in the Netherlands is temporary;
• the foreign employer keeps the authority to give instructions and pays the wages;
• the foreign employer carries out substantial activities in the sending state, beyond purely internal management.

Posting differs from hiring a self-employed person from abroad, employing an EU worker under a Dutch contract, or setting up a Dutch branch. Each form has its own consequences under the WagwEU, Regulation 883/2004 and the tax treaty.

What must the foreign employer notify?

The foreign employer must notify the posting through the Dutch online notification portal before work starts. Self-employed service providers from abroad who work in designated sectors must notify their own work as well.

The notification requirement follows from the WagwEU. The notification contains details of the employer, the posted workers, the Dutch client, the nature of the work, the location, the expected duration and the country where social security contributions are paid. The employer must also designate a contact person. You can find the details on the government’s notification page for posted workers.

Certain occasional activities are exempt, such as emergency repairs, attending a conference and the first assembly or installation of goods under a supply contract. Businesses with 1 to 9 employees based within 100 km of the Dutch border may, under conditions, file a one-year notification; this does not apply to construction and temporary agency work.

What must the Dutch client do?

The Dutch client (the recipient of the services) must check whether the notification has been made and is correct, and report any inaccuracy through the portal. If it fails to do so, the Netherlands Labour Authority can fine the client as well.

Which documents must be available?

At the Labour Authority’s request, the employer must show the employment contract or equivalent document, payslips, time records, proof of wage payment and the A1 certificate. Keep these available in the Netherlands, translated where necessary, so that an inspection can be dealt with straight away.

What fines apply?

The Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) enforces the notification requirement and can fine the employer, the self-employed person or the client. The amounts are set in a policy rule and are higher for repeat violations. You can object to a fine within six weeks (Article 6:7 of the General Administrative Law Act, Awb).

Which Dutch terms of employment apply?

From the first day, the posted worker is entitled to the hard core of Dutch terms of employment, including at least the Dutch statutory minimum wage. After twelve months, or eighteen months if the extension is notified, almost all Dutch terms apply.

Which terms apply from day one?

Under the Posting of Workers Directive (96/71/EC, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/957) and the WagwEU, the posted worker is entitled from the first day to the Dutch rules on:

• the statutory minimum wage and the minimum holiday allowance;
• maximum working hours and minimum rest periods;
• the minimum paid holiday, which under Article 7:634 BW is four times the agreed weekly working hours;
• health and safety at work;
• equal treatment and other non-discrimination rules;
• protection of pregnant workers, young mothers and young people;
• the conditions for hiring out workers, in particular by temporary employment agencies.

The Dutch statutory minimum wage applies per hour worked and is adjusted on 1 January and 1 July each year. A worker from a member state with a lower wage level is therefore entitled to at least the Dutch minimum wage for the hours worked in the Netherlands. Where the home-country terms are more favourable on a specific point, those apply; the comparison is made term by term.

When does a collective labour agreement apply?

Many Dutch sectors have a collective labour agreement (cao) that the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment has declared generally binding (algemeen verbindend verklaard). Its core provisions, including pay scales, allowances, overtime pay and travel, board and lodging allowances, apply to posted workers in that sector from the first day.

This regularly plays a role in construction, cleaning and temporary agency work. Whether an agreement applies depends on its scope clause and the actual work, so check this per project. A foreign temporary employment agency must also give agency workers the same pay as comparable employees of the Dutch hirer (Article 8 of the Placement of Personnel by Intermediaries Act, Waadi). Read more in our article on an employer not complying with the collective labour agreement.

What changes after twelve months?

If the posting lasts longer than twelve months, the worker becomes entitled to almost all Dutch terms that apply by law or under a generally binding collective agreement. The employer can extend this period to eighteen months by submitting a reasoned notification.

Two matters stay excluded even then: the rules on concluding and terminating the employment contract, including non-competition clauses, and supplementary occupational pension schemes. Dutch dismissal law therefore does not apply automatically; that depends on the law governing the contract under the Rome I Regulation (EC) 593/2008. If one posted worker replaces another for the same work at the same place, both periods are added together.

Which social security system applies?

For a posting of up to 24 months, the worker in principle remains insured in the sending state. The employer demonstrates this with an A1 certificate.

Under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) 883/2004, a worker posted by an employer that normally carries out its activities in the sending state remains subject to that state’s legislation, provided the anticipated duration does not exceed 24 months and the worker does not replace another posted worker. The social security institution of the sending state issues the A1 certificate (previously E101).

The A1 certificate binds the Dutch authorities as long as the issuing state has not withdrawn it. The Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed this in Altun (C-359/16, 6 February 2018), but added that a national court may disregard a certificate obtained by fraud if the issuing institution fails to review it within a reasonable period.

Posting under Article 12 is not possible if the employer carries out only internal management activities in the sending state. For longer postings, the authorities of both states can agree an exception under Article 16. Someone who normally works in two or more member states falls under Article 13.

Where is wage tax due?

That depends on the tax treaty between the Netherlands and the sending state, and on the facts. Law & More does not advise on tax structuring; involve a tax adviser.

Most tax treaties follow the OECD model. Under that model, salary for work in the Netherlands is taxable in the Netherlands, unless the worker is present for no more than 183 days in the relevant period, the salary is paid by a non-resident employer, and it is not borne by a permanent establishment in the Netherlands. The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) also looks at who is the economic employer.

What is the risk of bogus self-employment?

If a foreign worker is presented as self-employed but in reality works under the authority of a client, Dutch law may treat the relationship as an employment contract. Under Article 7:610 BW, there is an employment contract if someone performs work personally, for pay, under the authority of another.

The label the parties choose is not decisive. In its Deliveroo judgment of 24 March 2023 (ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443), the Supreme Court held that all circumstances must be weighed, including how the work and hours are determined, whether the work is embedded in the organisation and whether the worker acts as an entrepreneur in other ways. Since 1 January 2025, the Tax and Customs Administration again actively enforces the rules on the qualification of working relationships (Wet DBA). A bogus construction can lead to wage claims at minimum or cao level, tax and contribution assessments and liability of the client.

What is chain liability?

Under Articles 7:616a to 7:616f BW, a client can be held liable for unpaid wages of workers employed by its contractor or subcontractor. This also applies to posted workers.

A worker who has not received the wage due can claim it from the employer and from the client further up the chain. The client escapes liability if it shows it cannot be blamed, for example because it made clear agreements and checked compliance. Tax law has a separate chain liability for wage tax and contributions in contracting chains and when hiring workers.

What does the Netherlands Labour Authority check?

The Labour Authority can visit workplaces and request information and documents. During an inspection it checks, among other things, whether:

• the posting has been notified correctly and in time, and the client has checked it;
• the posted workers receive at least the Dutch minimum wage and the applicable cao terms;
• working hours, rest periods and health and safety rules are observed;
• the required documents are available;
• there is a genuine posting, and not a sham construction.

The Labour Authority can impose fines and share information with the authorities of the sending state. The Tax and Customs Administration, the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) and UWV can take their own measures on tax and social security.

Are there special rules for road transport?

Yes. Since 2 February 2022, Directive (EU) 2020/1057 contains specific posting rules for drivers in international road transport. Cabotage and certain cross-trade operations count as posting, while bilateral transport to and from the sending state does not.

Posting of drivers is notified through the European road transport posting portal (IMI), not the general Dutch portal. The terms of generally binding transport cao’s apply to the posting periods.

What should you check as a foreign employer?

Most fines and claims start with a missing notification or underpayment. Check these points before the first working day:

• Has the posting been notified in the Dutch portal before work starts, with a contact person?
• Does a generally binding cao apply to the work, and do you pay its scales, or at least the Dutch minimum wage per hour?
• Do you have an A1 certificate for every worker, and will the posting stay under 24 months?
• Are the contract, payslips, time records and proof of payment available in the Netherlands?
• Will the posting exceed twelve months, and have you filed a reasoned extension to eighteen months in time?

What should you check as a Dutch client?

As the client you can be fined for not checking the notification and held liable for unpaid wages. Check:

• whether the notification exists and is correct, and report errors through the portal;
• whether the contract obliges the contractor to comply with Dutch wage and cao rules;
• payslips and proof of wage payment for the workers on your project;
• A1 certificates for every worker;
• whether the “self-employed” workers on site really work independently.

What should you check as a posted worker?

You are entitled to at least the Dutch minimum wage for every hour you work in the Netherlands. Check:

• that you have a written employment contract with the foreign employer;
• that your hourly wage in the Netherlands is at least the Dutch minimum wage or the cao wage;
• that you have an A1 certificate showing where you are insured;
• that you keep your payslips and your own record of hours worked;
• whether you can claim unpaid wages from the Dutch client under chain liability, or report the employer to the Labour Authority.

What can we do for you with posted workers?

We advise foreign employers, Dutch clients and posted workers on the posting rules, cao’s and wage disputes; see also our employment lawyer page.

• We check whether your arrangement is a genuine posting, or employment, bogus self-employment or agency work.
• We determine which generally binding cao applies and which terms you must pay from day one.
• We review the contracts in your chain and add compliance and chain-liability clauses.
• We draft the objection (bezwaar) against a Labour Authority fine within the six-week deadline.
• We claim unpaid wages from the employer or the Dutch client, before the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) if needed.

For the broader Dutch rules, see our article on Dutch employment law. Official information is on the government website Posted Workers.

Summary

• EU, EEA and Swiss workers do not need a work permit; posted workers from outside the EU must meet additional conditions.
• The foreign employer must notify the posting before work starts, and the Dutch client must check the notification.
• From day one, the Dutch minimum wage and the core of generally binding cao’s apply; after 12 or 18 months, almost all Dutch terms apply.
• Social security usually remains in the sending state for up to 24 months, shown by an A1 certificate; tax depends on the treaty.
• Bogus self-employment and chain liability can make the Dutch client liable for underpayment.

Frequently asked questions