Your rights as an employee in the Netherlands: pay, leave, sickness, contracts and dismissal

Your employer must give you key information in writing within one week of your start date, including the names and places of residence of both parties, your place of work, your job or type of work, the start date, the duration of a fixed-term contract, your working hours, your salary and when it is paid, and any probation period. Further information must follow within one month.

Several laws protect you whatever your contract says, including the Civil Code rules on probation, leave, notice and dismissal, the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act, the Working Hours Act and equal treatment legislation. Equal treatment law says, for example, that terms of employment may not differ between people with or without a migration background, between full-time and part-time staff, or between permanent and temporary staff.

Since 2024 the Netherlands has only an hourly minimum wage. For employees aged 21 and over it is €14.71 gross per hour from 1 January 2026 and €14.99 from 1 July 2026. Younger employees have lower age-related rates. The amount is indexed every 1 January and 1 July.

On top of your salary you are entitled to holiday allowance (vakantiegeld, legally vakantiebijslag) of at least 8% of your gross annual salary. It is usually paid once a year, often in May or June, and builds up over the previous twelve months, including while you are ill. A cao can state that holiday allowance is included in a higher wage, but you must then receive at least 108% of the minimum wage.

Under the Working Hours Act (Arbeidstijdenwet) you may work at most 12 hours per shift and 60 hours per week. Over any 4 weeks the average may not exceed 55 hours a week, and over 16 weeks 48 hours a week. Special rules apply to workers under 18, to pregnant and recently pregnant employees and to some professions, and a cao may set different rules within these limits.

You build up statutory leave of at least four times your weekly working hours per year. On a 40-hour week that is 160 hours, which is 20 days. Many contracts and caos give more; the extra days are called bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen.

• Your employer must in principle agree to your leave request. It may only object for serious business reasons, and must do so in writing within two weeks.
• You must be able to take your statutory leave every year.
• Statutory days you have not taken expire six months after the year in which you built them up; days from 2026 expire on 1 July 2027, unless a cao or written agreement allows longer. Extra-statutory days usually lapse only after five years.
• You also build up leave while you are ill.

Report sick to your employer according to the company's procedure, usually on the first morning. In the first year of illness your employer pays at least 70% of your wage, and at least the minimum wage. In the second year it pays at least 70%, without the top-up to minimum wage. Many caos and contracts pay more, often 100% in the first year. Illness related to pregnancy, childbirth or organ donation is paid at 100%.

You may not be dismissed because of illness during the first two years of incapacity. During that time your employer, and usually a company doctor (bedrijfsarts), will work with you on returning to work, possibly in adapted or fewer hours.

Probation (proeftijd) must be agreed in writing and is limited by law:

• no probation for a temporary contract of 6 months or less;
• at most 1 month for a temporary contract of more than 6 months but less than 2 years, and for a permanent contract;
• at most 2 months for a temporary contract of 2 years or longer.

During probation either side can end the contract immediately.

Chain rule: your temporary contracts automatically turn into a permanent contract if you have had more than 3 temporary contracts with the same employer, or have worked on temporary contracts for more than 3 years, with gaps of no more than 6 months. A cao can set different rules. The Senate approved the Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers on 7 July 2026; according to the government it gives flexible workers more certainty from 1 January 2028.

Notice of non-renewal (aanzegtermijn): for a temporary contract of 6 months or longer, your employer must tell you in writing at least one month before the end date whether it will be renewed, and on what terms. If it does not, it owes you one month's salary; if it is late, a proportional amount.

If you resign from a permanent contract, your notice period is one calendar month, unless you agreed something else in writing (never more than six months). If your notice is longer than one month, your employer's must be twice as long.

If your employer gives notice, the minimum period depends on how long you have worked there:

• less than 5 years: 1 month
• 5 to 10 years: 2 months
• 10 to 15 years: 3 months
• 15 years or more: 4 months

A cao can set a shorter period. A fixed-term contract simply ends on its end date, unless early termination was agreed in the contract.

Your employer may only dismiss you for a reasonable ground set out in law, and in many cases must first try to place you in another suitable job. Grounds include business-economic reasons such as a reorganisation, long-term incapacity after two years of illness, frequent absence with unacceptable consequences, underperformance after you were warned and given a chance to improve, and culpable conduct. For economic reasons or long-term illness the employer usually needs permission from UWV; for other grounds it usually goes to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter). Ending a contract by mutual agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) is also common.

If your employer ends your contract or does not renew it, you are generally entitled to a transition payment (transitievergoeding) from your first working day: one third of a monthly salary per year of service, calculated pro rata. In 2026 it is capped at €102,000 gross, or one gross annual salary if that is higher.

• Work in NL information points give free explanation and advice on wages, contracts, dismissal, leave and more, in your own language where possible.
• The Juridisch Loket gives free legal information; the government refers employees there, for example with questions about successive employers.
• Trade unions advise and represent members; check whether a waiting period applies before you need help.
• The Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) supervises fair pay and safe working conditions; you can report underpayment or unsafe work.
• For a formal dispute, an employment lawyer can advise you. Legal expenses insurance or a union membership may cover the cost.