Are you interested in temporary work in the Netherlands? Great! Working as a temporary agency worker is a common and easy way to start.
But how do temporary agency contracts work? How are salaries calculated? What about sick leave? This article will answer your questions about temporary work in the Netherlands.
Before you start temporary work in the Netherlands
Working via a temporary agency is very common in the Netherlands. In December 2023, 19,6% of the employed labour force were engaged in temporary work
In this section, we’ll walk you through everything you need before you start your temporary agency work. Remember: the rules might be different from other countries you’ve worked in.
Dutch Residence/work permit
Citizens from the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals do not need a residence or work permit to work in the Netherlands. Foreign nationals from outside of the EU, EEA and Switzerland may, subject to set criteria, be able to apply for a residence/work permit through the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) or apply for an Orientation year visa. Regardless of your nationality, you must register with your local town hall (Gemeente) if you’re moving to the Netherlands from abroad.
BSN number
A BSN (Burgerservicenummer) is a unique registration number that everyone who lives in the Netherlands receives. You need it to work, open a bank account, pay taxes, and access the Dutch healthcare system. You can get a BSN by making an appointment at the Gemeente.
Dutch health insurance
Everyone who lives and works in the Netherlands needs to have private Dutch health insurance. This isn’t difficult to arrange: health insurance companies must accept anyone who applies for insurance. If you’re a student and have foreign or international health insurance, you may need to take out Dutch health insurance for the hours you work and receive a salary. In order to make a comparison between private health insurance coverage and costs in the Netherlands you can visit this website.
Income tax for temporary work
Before signing your contract, you will need to complete a tax form provided by your employer. By signing this form you agree to pay income tax and social premiums in the Netherlands. These will be deducted from your salary each payment period. Remember to declare any other form of employment in the Netherlands, as the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) will need to adjust your tax code.
Temporary work through Adams Multilingual Recruitment
When you reach out to Adams Multilingual Recruitment to help you find a new job in the Netherlands, our recruitment consultants act as intermediaries in the hiring process between you (our candidate) and the international companies we partner with (our clients).
Our clients ask us to find candidates for their most recent vacancies and share information about the job with us. Before introducing you to our clients, we’ll speak to you, and look at your CV to see if you’re a good fit for the organisation and the role. We proceed with the most suitable candidates and only put their applications forward to our client.
If you make it through the recruitment process and our client offers you a job, they will generally offer you a position as a temporary worker through Adams. This might involve a short-term project or an assignment lasting a few weeks or months. Whatever the exact arrangement, the client determines where you work, what hours and what tasks you will do. However, Adams will be your legal employer and pay your salary.
This involves signing a contract of employment with us and this means that we’re responsible for your taxes, social premiums, etc. As a part of our registration process, you will need to share certain personal information with us and upload a copy of your passport/ID card – and a copy of your Dutch residence permit if applicable. You will also need to complete the income tax form and ABU documentation (more about the ABU in the next section) before the temporary employment contract can be finalised.
While employed via Adams, you will need to complete a weekly timesheet stating exactly how many hours you have worked. Your manager can digitally approve the timesheet. Once you submit this to us, we will pay your salary and ensure that all taxes and other deductions are made, according to Dutch laws and regulations.
The ABU Collective Labour Agreement and Dutch labour law
Adams is a member of the ABU (Algemene Bond Uitzendbureaus / Federation of Private Employment Agencies). Established in 1961, the ABU represents temporary employment agencies and protects the rights of temporary agency workers in the Netherlands.
The ABU has a CLA (Collective Labour Agreement) in place, which specifies the temporary agency employment conditions that all parties – agency, candidate, and client – must adhere to. We will provide you with a copy of the ABU CLA before you sign your contract with Adams. We’re audited each year to make sure that we’re compliant.
If you’re not a Dutch national, we will also ask you to read and sign the ABU Fair Employment Code for Labour Migrants and the ABU Fair Recruitment Charter for Labour Migrants before you start working. You can find out more about your rights as a temporary agency worker in the Netherlands by taking a look at some of the short videos created by the ABU on their website.
In addition to adhering to the ABU CLA, we comply with all relevant Dutch labor laws and regulations. Contract type, pension accrual entitlement, and reservations are governed by the CLA, while other areas, such as parental leave and statutory sick pay, are subject to Dutch law.
The basics of your temporary contract
The contract explanation meeting
To help you understand the temporary contract you’re signing, we will arrange a contract explanation meeting. The meeting either takes place at our office or virtually via Zoom. We’re required by law to check your passport/ID card – and residence or work permit if applicable – before you sign the contract. We will make a copy and keep it on file in our system.
Contract types
There are three different temporary agency contract types, each depending on the duration of the employment relationship:
Phase A: These contracts last for a maximum of 52 worked weeks. The agency only pays you wages for the hours you work, unless stated otherwise. Your contract will always state a start date and end date, but it can always be extended. We can offer several Phase A contracts as long as this does not exceed a 52-week period (for example – a maximum of thirteen 4-week contracts during a 52-week period).
Phase B: If you reach 52 weeks of employment, a Phase B contract may then need to be offered. This will be discussed and agreed upon at that time. If working on a Phase B contract, you can receive a maximum of 6 Phase B contracts in a maximum period of 3 years.
Phase C: If you continue working for the company within six months after concluding a final Phase B contract, you enter into a Phase C contract. These contracts last indefinitely and are based on a secondment agreement. Please note that at Adams, we do not offer this type of contract.
Calculating your salary as a temporary worker
According to the ABU CLA temporary agency employees have the right to the same remuneration rights as direct colleagues. If they are carrying out the same or similar job within the company. For temporary work, the compensation rights cover:
- The applicable periodic wage that applies to the job group scale
- The applicable reduction of working hours
- Overtime and irregular hour supplements along with supplements for working in (physically) stressful conditions
- Initial pay increase, the timing and amount of which are the same as at the user company
- All expense allowances
- Increments
- Reimbursement of travel hours/travel time if applicable
- One-off payments
- Working from home allowance
- Fixed end-of-year bonuses
Due to the flexible nature of a temporary agency contract, you may decide to work more or fewer hours than what has been agreed upon. For this reason, we break down your expected monthly salary – excluding the 8.33% holiday allowance which is reserved and paid out in June or upon termination of employment – into an hourly rate.
If you have an expected monthly salary of €2000 gross, based on a 40-hour working week the calculation is as follows:
€2000 gross * 3 (3 months in 1 quarter) / 13 (amount of weeks in 1 quarter) / 40 (expected working hours per week) = €11.54 gross
€11.54 gross (hourly pay rate) x 40 (actual hours worked) = €461.60 gross per week
If you take unpaid leave or sick leave during a week, the amount that you receive for that particular week will be lower than normal.
Holidays and short-term leave
As a temporary agency worker, you’re entitled to vacation days, public holidays, an 8.33% holiday allowance and short-term absence leave. For each hour you work, you build up a reservation according to a pre-set percentage, in line with the ABU CLA.
Holiday entitlement & holiday allowance
If you work 40 hours per week, you can take the equivalent of 25 holiday days per year. The 8.33% holiday allowance is generally paid out once a year. Usually, during the first week of June or earlier/later depending on when your contract comes to terminate. When your assignment ends, you will receive your holiday allowance as a part of your final month’s payment.
Holiday leave and public holidays day
For the official public holidays in the Netherlands (as confirmed in the ABU CLA) you build up a reservation to help cover you for not being able to work on a public holiday due to company closure on that particular day. The actual percentage for this reservation can change slightly each year, according to whether public holidays fall on the weekend or not. If there is a public holiday and you have not built up enough reservation for a full day, you will only be paid for the amount you have reserved.
Please note that in the Netherlands, Good Friday is not a public holiday and if Christmas or Boxing Day falls on the weekend, the days are not compensated with an extra day off.
Short-term leave
A small % of your hourly rate is reserved for paid short absences such as a visit to the doctor or dentist. If you need to take time off, you will need to check if you have accumulated enough hours to cover your time off.
Secondary benefits as a temporary worker in the Netherlands
Commuting allowance
Most companies in the Netherlands pay a commuting allowance to staff who live more than 10 km from their work. The amount could be calculated based on the exact km distance from your home to work and is sometimes capped at a maximum level, or you may be entitled to 100% reimbursement if traveling with public transport. Your commuting allowance will be in line with that of the company you’re working for and they will inform you about the exact criteria before you start working. The allowance is paid with your salary.
Working-from-home allowance
A lot of companies have changed their approach to working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As staff is no longer commuting to work (as often), many companies have started to offer a working-from-home allowance. They will inform you about the company policy and any potential allowance before you start working.
Training & development
As your employment agency, we can offer you the possibility (based on available budget) to participate in training & development courses that improve your chances in the employment market.
Pension
As a temporary agency worker with Adams, you will automatically start to accrue a pension as soon as we process your first salary (if aged 18 years or older). A temporary agency worker will at first enter into the ‘Basis’ pension scheme for a maximum of 52 weeks, and will then automatically progress into the ‘Plus’ pension scheme if still employed with Adams.
Whilst participating with the ‘Basis’ pension scheme Adams as your employer will be the sole contributor to your pension fund. If participating in the ‘Plus’ pension scheme both Adams and the temporary agency worker will contribute to the pension fund.
Overtime
Whether you receive overtime pay depends on the agreement with the company policy of our client. Overtime can be set for example at 100%, 125%, 150%, or 200%.
Sick leave
If you are working on an assignment as a temporary agency worker with Adams and become ill, you will need to inform us on the morning of your first day of illness. You are entitled to receive sick pay from the second day of illness if employed on a Phase A or Phase B contract. The first day of sickness is classified as a ‘Waiting day’, meaning you are not entitled to sick pay on that day.
During your sickness, Adams will register you as sick with FlexCom4, a third-party specialist in sickness and absenteeism for temporary staff. FlexCom4 will handle communication and support during your illness. While your contract is active, Adams will pay you 90% of your actual daily wage during your sickness period.
If your sickness extends beyond your contract period, you will fall under the ‘Ziektewet’ (Sickness Act) and may be entitled to a sickness benefit. This benefit is generally set by the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) at 70% of your last earned daily wage. The UWV will calculate your entitlement and inform FlexCom4 and Adams accordingly.
In addition to the 70% sickness benefit paid by FlexCom4 after your contract ends, Adams is obligated to pay an additional 20% during the first year of sickness and 10% during a potential second year. This additional payment will be transferred directly to your bank account by Adams.
Maternity and parental leave
Maternity leave
If you have a Phase A or Phase B contract with Adams, you can receive a maternity leave benefit from the UWV (instead of a salary) for a maximum duration of 16 weeks (20 weeks if you have twins). During your leave your temporary contract will continue, unless the assignment has come to terminate due to the end of the set project/tasks(Phase A) or unless the end date of the Phase B contract has surpassed.
Partner leave
You have the right to take a maximum of five paid days if your partner gives birth (geboorteverlof). The five days you can take straight away or spread out over four weeks after the birth of your child.
You can also take additional partner leave (geboorteverlof) within the first six-month period of the child being born. The leave consists of a maximum of 5 weeks (5 x the number of hours that you work per week). The UWV pays out a Partner Birth Leave allowance of 70% of your day rate – the maximum day rate is set by the UWV regulations.
Parental leave
Temporary agency workers have the right to take parental leave, currently set as 26 x the number of contractual working hours per week. Parental leave is for the most part unpaid, however, if requested, new parents can take a maximum of 9 weeks of paid parental leave to a maximum payment of 70% of their daily salary (up to 70% of the maximum daily salary as set by the UWV regulations).
You will not receive a salary as such over the 9 weeks paid parental leave but instead have the right to receive a parental leave allowance payment from the UWV. You have to take the 9 weeks of paid parental leave if you wish to make use of it within the first year of the child’s birth. The remaining 17 weeks entitlement to parental leave is unpaid and can be made use of until the child reaches the age of 8 years old.
Adoption and foster care leave
You can take a maximum of six weeks’ leave if you adopt or foster a child. You can take it straight away or spread it out over six months. During this period, you’re entitled to an adoption/foster care leave allowance from the UWV, equivalent to 100% of your day rate.
Filing your tax return
If you receive a request from the Belastingdienst to complete your income tax return, you must do so. You can also complete your income tax return without receiving notification from the Belastingdienst. In any case, you can file your income tax return as of 1st March, making sure to do so before 14th July.
The Jaaropgaaf that we send only covers the period that you worked with Adams. If you had more than one employer in the previous year, you will receive a Jaaropgaaf from each employer.
You can complete your tax return once you have received your Jaaropgaaf. However, we would recommend that you ask a Dutch speaker to help, as some of the language is quite technical. You can of course also pay an accountant to do your tax return on your behalf.
–
We hope this guide has equipped you with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about your career in the Netherlands. If you’re interested in taking on a temporary assignment, we invite you to register on our website or explore the current opportunities. Our team is here to guide you through the process.
