I am hiring a foreign company or a posted self-employed person
As a client, are you hiring a foreign company or a posted self-employed person in the Netherlands for a temporary assignment? And are they from the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland? Then they are required by law to notify their arrival in the online notification portal. As a client, you must check whether they have been correctly notified before their arrival. You have until five working days after the assignment starts to check the notification
Notification is important
Notification allows the government to check whether posted workers are working under safe, healthy and fair employment conditions. This is how we make sure the right, Dutch employment conditions are applied and how we prevent unfair competition.
The duty to notify is part of the Posted Workers in the European Union (Working Conditions) Act (Wet arbeidsvoorwaarden gedetacheerde werknemers in de Europese Unie, WagwEU). This Dutch Act is based on the European Posting of Workers Directive.
Notification of posted workers is given in three steps. Together with the foreign employer or self-employed person, you have a duty to notify (correctly). Make sure the notification is made before the posted worker starts their assignment. You have until five working days after the assignment starts to check the notification.
Inform
You, as the Dutch client, must inform the foreign employer about giving notification of employees.
Notify
The foreign employer or self-employed person gives the notification at english.postedworkers.nl.
Check
You will then receive an e-mail about the notification. You check the notification in the notification portal. If all information is correct, you indicate that the notification is correct. If the information is incorrect, you indicate that something is incorrect. The foreign employer or self-employed person will then receive an e-mail asking them to change the notification. You will then check the notification again.
Important! Any interim changes should also be notified and checked. This way, you ensure that you are not fined and you will help create a fair labour market.
This roadmap is also available in different languages:
*If there is an employment contract between your company and the agency worker, or between a Dutch temporary employment agency and the temporary agency worker, then there is no duty to notify. Noti cation is only required when a worker is employed by a foreign temporary employment agency and is temporarily loaned to you in your capacity as a client in the Netherlands. Please find more information about the definition of posting here. NB: If you hire a temporary agency worker through a Dutch temporary employment agency, this agency worker could originally be employed by a foreign temporary agency. In that case the duty to notify does apply. You can check with the Dutch temporary employment agency whether this is the case.
**NB: Are you passing an agency worker posted to the Netherlands on to another company in the Netherlands or in another EU Member State? If so, inform the foreign temporary employment agency responsible for the agency worker about this in good time. The foreign temporary employment agency must update the noti cation in the Posted Workers noti cation portal. That way, the noti cation portal has the correct information about the Dutch client and the place of work. The company for which the agency worker is working in the Netherlands must check this noti cation.
*** It is the responsibility of the Dutch temporary employment agency to give the foreign temporary employment agency information in good time so that the la er can adjust the existing noti cation. The foreign temporary employment agency remains responsible for the work- and employment conditions of the posted worker.
This decision tree is also available in other languages:
Check with the foreign company / posted self-employed person to see whether the notification has already been submitted. Has the notification not been submitted yet? If so, remind the foreign company or the posted self-employed person to do so. Have you still not received an email after that? Then report this to the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) helpdesk via helpdeskpw@svb.nl or call 020-6565123. The SVB manages the notification portal.
Checking the notification is mandatory. Do records or a visit to the workplace indicate that the arrival has not been reported in advance? Or that it has been notified incorrectly? Then you and the foreign company or the posted self-employed person run the risk of a fine. You can view the fine amounts here.
The Netherlands Labour Authority carries out checks. Make sure the notification is in order before the posted worker starts the assignment. Important: Any interim changes should also be notified and checked. This way, you ensure that you are not fined and you will help create a fair labour market.
Is the foreign company or the posted self-employed person hiring a third party to join you in the Netherlands? If so, that is called subcontracting. It is not you, but the foreign company or the posted self-employed person that is the client in that case. The third party notifies their arrival, and the foreign employer or self-employed person checks the report. Is the foreign company also sending its own workers? Then that company must submit a separate notification for them. As the client, however, you must check this report within five working days after the start of the assignment.
This law entitles posted workers to the statutory working conditions offered in the Netherlands. These include the right to a minimum wage, sufficient breaks, a healthy and safe workplace, equal treatment of men and women, and a minimum number of leave days. In addition, foreign employers have a number of administrative obligations, including notifying. In some sectors, this also applies to self-employed people. Notification makes it easier for the government to check whether companies are complying with the rules.
Exceptions to the duty to notify
Sometimes, workers do not have to have a notification submitted for them. In that case, you do not have to check either.
If employees are working in public administration, government services or extraterritorial organisations, no notification needs to be submitted for them. Examples of extraterritorial organisations include the United Nations and the European Union.
Most self-employed persons do not have to notify for themselves. An overview of the sectors in which self-employed persons are subject to the duty to notify can be found here.
Do you often hire the same foreign company or the same self-employed person to come and work in the Netherlands? Sometimes, the foreign company may then draw up an annual report. A report then only has to be made once a year. You do not have to check annual reports. More information on annual reports can be found here.
The obligation to report does not apply to employees who perform certain types of incidental work. This includes guest speakers at conferences, employees on short business trips and urgent maintenance of tools. Therefore, in these cases, do not have to check whether notifications have been submitted. An overview of the categories and conditions for certain incidental work can be found here.
Posted workers with a nationality outside the EU, the EEA or Switzerland (third-country nationals)
The duty to notify also applies if workers with a nationality outside the EU, the EEA or Switzerland are temporarily posted to the Netherlands. You can view the additional requirements for employees from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland here.
Rights and obligations
Workers who are posted in the Netherlands are entitled to the statutory working conditions applicable here. Employers that employ posted workers must ensure this. Read more about these rights and obligations.
