The employment contract in the Netherlands

A fixed-term contract (bepaalde tijd) ends on a known date, and the employer may renew it, but the law sets a limit: three successive temporary contracts or three years at most (unless separated by more than six months), after which the contract automatically becomes permanent.

• A permanent contract (onbepaalde tijd) has no end date and protects you more.
• There are flexible contracts such as a flexible hours contract or on-call contract (oproepcontract), and since 2020 their rules have improved to protect you, such as notifying the worker four days before their schedule.
• Read the contract well to know its type, and if there is renewal know that the employer must inform you of ending or renewing at least a month before.

The contract must include the names of the parties, the workplace, the job title, the start date, the pay and its payment dates, the weekly working hours, leave, the notice period and the existence of a collective agreement or occupational pension.

• The probation period (proeftijd) is optional, and may not exceed one month for a contract of less than two years, and two months for a permanent contract or one over two years, and is not allowed for a contract of six months or less.
• During probation either party may end the contract at once without reason.
• The probation clause must be written in the contract.
• If a clause is contrary to law it is not valid.
• Ask for a signed copy and keep it.

Adult workers have a legal minimum wage (wettelijk minimumloon) adjusted twice a year in January and July, calculated per hour or month, and you may not receive less than it. Check the current figure on the government site.

• Salaries are paid monthly usually with a payslip (loonstrook) showing the gross (bruto), taxes and deductions and the net (netto).
• The holiday allowance (vakantiegeld), which is eight per cent of the gross annual pay, is paid usually in May or June.
• You are entitled to the payslip every month.
• Check that there are no unjustified deductions and report any mistake to the employer.

The full working week is often 36 to 40 hours depending on the collective agreement, and part-time work is very common in the Netherlands and you have the right to request a change of working hours (Wet flexibel werken).

• An employee has a right to paid annual leave of at least four times the weekly working hours, that is twenty days for full time, often 25 days in contracts and collective agreements, plus public holidays.
• Parents have parental leave partly paid and other grants.
• You must get breaks, and working beyond maximum limits is not allowed.
• Record your hours and keep evidence of any overtime, and know the company's policy on compensating it.

The employer cannot dismiss you easily: he needs a justified reason (such as non-performance, reorganisation or misconduct) and either UWV approval or a court ruling, or a mutual termination agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) that must be reviewed carefully before signing, and you are usually entitled to a transition payment (transitievergoeding).

• You can resign with usually one month's written notice.
• Do not confuse the employee and the freelancer (zzp'er): the freelancer works for themselves without an employee's protection and is not an employee, and you should be treated as an employee if you actually work under employee conditions (false self-employment).
• Consult your union or the Juridisch Loket before signing a termination.

How many successive temporary contracts at most before it becomes permanent?