Working in the Netherlands - Conclusion of employment contracts

An employment contract is deemed to exist if three conditions are fulfilled:

• a relationship of authority
• remuneration (pay)
• a (personal) obligation to perform work

By no means every agreement to perform work is an employment contract. In addition to employment contracts, the law also distinguishes between contracts for services and contractor agreements. Whether an agreement can legally be treated as an employment contract depends on the facts of the case.

The Dutch Civil Code considers a person working each week or for at least 20 hours a month for another person for three consecutive months in consideration of payment as an employment contract.

An employment contract is a written or oral agreement between an employer and an employee. An oral employment contract is also valid in the Netherlands. Nonetheless, we would advise you to have the most important agreements recorded in writing.

Written agreement

The employer must record some details in writing. This can take the form of a payslip or a personal letter. However, the most obvious course of action is to include these details in the employment contract itself. This includes:

• the name and address of the employer and employee
• the place(s) where the work is to be performed
  the job of the employee or the nature of the work
• the date of entry into employment
• the duration of the contract (if it is a temporary contract)
• holiday entitlement or how it is calculated
  wages and deadline for payment
• the usual working time (per week or per day)
  participation in a pension scheme
• whether an employment agency agreement is involved
• the collective agreement that applies
  any trial period
• the period of notice or how it is calculated
  and, if you are to be posted abroad for longer than a month, particulars of the conditions on which you will be employed there

If the holiday entitlement, period of notice, wage and/or usual working time are mentioned in a collective agreement, a reference to the collective agreement is sufficient.

The employer must provide the particulars within a month of the start of employment. If the employment contract is entered into for a shorter period, the employer must provide this information before the end of the contract.

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.