Dutch government rolls back self-employment law to ease market unrest
The Dutch cabinet is scrapping part of its new self-employment legislation to reduce uncertainty for 1.2 million self-employed workers and their clients. The move aims to provide clarity and prevent unnecessary contract losses while fast-tracking legal protections for low-income freelancers.
| Key Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Policy Change | Scrapping clarification section of Vbar draft bill |
| Affected Group | 1.2 million self-employed professionals in the Netherlands |
| Hourly Rate Threshold | €38/hour (as of January 1, 2026) |
| New Focus | Introduction of Self-Employed Persons Act |
| Enforcement Status | Bogus self-employment enforcement remains in place |
| Minister Responsible | Aartsen (Social Affairs and Employment) |
| Next Steps | Work on Self-Employed Persons Act to continue in the coming period |
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment oversees labor market regulations, including policies for self-employed professionals. Its role is to balance legal protections for workers while ensuring fair market practices and reducing administrative burdens for businesses and freelancers.
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Cabinet opts for more calm and clarity for self-employed professionals and clients
The cabinet is scrapping part of the (new) self-employed legislation already before the House of Representatives. This concerns the clarification section of the draft bill Clarification of assessment of employment relationships and presumption of employment (Vbar). This part of the legislation was causing too much unrest. In doing so, Minister Aartsen of Social Affairs and Employment is charting a course for self-employed professionals aimed at more calm and clarity. This also paves the way for the Self-Employed Persons Act. Work on this will continue in earnest in the coming period. However, the cabinet does want to give self-employed professionals earning up to €38 per hour (as of January 1, 2026) a stronger legal position as quickly as possible, based on the previously proposed hourly rate.
Minister Aartsen: “With this, the cabinet is taking the first step in a new direction. It is important to provide clarity to self-employed professionals and clients. This will create calm among self-employed professionals and clients, so that we prevent contracts from being unnecessarily lost. Part of the Vbar draft bill before the House lacked support. This caused unrest in the market. That is why I am withdrawing that part of the draft bill. This clears the way for the Self-Employed Persons Act.”
In the Netherlands, nearly 1.2 million people work as self-employed professionals. Since January 1, 2025, enforcement of bogus self-employment has been fully reinstated. This will remain the case. If a self-employed professional is used but it turns out that an employment contract is in place, the client must still pay wage taxes. There are also risks in terms of employment law and pension law.
Scrapping clarification section of Vbar
The cabinet is scrapping the part of the Vbar draft bill intended to clarify when someone is genuinely self-employed or actually an employee. The cabinet wants to introduce the Self-Employed Persons Act as soon as possible to replace this.
The introduction of the Self-Employed Persons Act is an agreement from the coalition agreement of the new cabinet. This should give self-employed professionals a clearer position and legal recognition. The cabinet will be working hard on the Self-Employed Persons Act in the coming period.
Better legal protection for low-income self-employed professionals
The cabinet wants to speed up the part of the Vbar draft bill that makes it easier for low-income self-employed professionals to assert their legal position. This concerns self-employed professionals earning up to €38 per hour (as of January 1, 2026). If self-employed professionals invoke the presumption of employment, clients must demonstrate that there is no employment contract. If they cannot do so, this constitutes bogus self-employment, and the self-employed professional is entitled to the same protections as an employee.