Employer / Self-employed person

Terms and conditions of employment for posted workers employed by a temporary employment agency

Have you been posted to the Netherlands to work for a foreign temporary employment agency? In that case, your employment is governed by the terms and conditions of employment according to the Placement of Personnel by Intermediaries Act (Waadi), from the outset. These apply in addition to the terms and conditions of employment laid down in the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act, Working Conditions Act, Working Hours Act and the Collective Agreements (Declaration of Universally Binding and Non-Binding Status) Act. According to this Act, you are entitled to the necessary terms and conditions of employment that apply to employees doing similar work in the Netherlands. It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure compliance. The Waadi applies if you work in the Netherlands under the supervision and direction of a Dutch client. The Dutch Labour Inspectorate checks whether employers comply with this Act.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

You are entitled to the necessary terms and conditions of employment that apply to employees doing similar work employed by the Dutch client. Examples include:

  • wages and other allowances, such as travel allowance;
  • the rules on working hours and adequate rest periods (this includes: overtime, working night shifts, breaks, the duration of holidays and working on public holidays);
  • additional rules to protect young people, pregnant women and breastfeeding women;
  • equal treatment of men and women.

Before the posting starts, the Dutch client is obliged to inform your employer of the terms and conditions of employment applicable in his organisation. You can ask your employer, or any workers employed by your Dutch employer, about the terms and conditions of employment to which you are entitled. Sometimes you can also find these terms and conditions of employment in a collective agreement, for example in the Collective Agreement for Agency Workers (ABU) or in the new NBBU Collective Agreement for Agency Workers. In other cases, the statutory minima apply such as the statutory minimum wage, or terms and conditions of employment have been agreed within the company itself.

Supplying to a third party

Your employer has a duty to offer you the correct terms and conditions of employment and a safe workplace. Even if you are reposted by the Dutch client to a third party. The Dutch client is obliged to inform your employer in advance if they repost you to a third party.

Additional obligations

In addition, additional obligations apply under the Waadi. For example, your temporary employment agency must register with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Read more about the additional obligations for temporary employment agencies.