Employer of Record Netherlands
Employ someone in the Netherlands without registering a company of your own. The EOR becomes the legal employer on a Dutch arbeidsovereenkomst, and the monthly loonaangifte, the 8% vakantiegeld and the leave record all follow from that one contract.
Book a DemoOur EOR Portal
One place for contracts, payslips and leave balances
Behind the named contact there is a plain system. The arbeidsovereenkomst, the article 7:655 written terms, every payslip and the leave record sit in one place, and you can pull any of them yourself.
- See how far each new hire has got, and what is still outstanding
- Open the monthly payslip and the proof that the loonaangifte went in
- Book leave in hours, and record a pay rise or a change of terms in writing
- Watch wettelijke leave days run towards their 30 June expiry
Why EOR Netherlands?
Dutch employment is the whole job here, not one country on a list
We work on the Netherlands and on nothing else. A question about the ketenregeling, a wettelijke leave day about to lapse or a Whk beschikking that came back higher than last year gets answered the same working day, with the article or the table it came from attached.
The EOR becomes the legal employer of the person you hire. Payroll runs in euro, loonheffingen are withheld and reported to the Belastingdienst every period, and the duties that come with being the employer on paper sit on the arbeidsovereenkomst instead of on your finance team.
Employment Costs
What it costs to employ someone in the Netherlands
The salary is the easy part. Around it sit the employer social charges, the 8% vakantiegeld that goes on top, and the loonheffingen that come off the payslip.
Employer social charges
There is no single Dutch employer rate. Five charges are worked out on premieloon: AWf at 2,74% on a permanent written contract and 7,74% on anything fixed-term or on-call, Aof at 6,27% for a small employer and 7,63% above that, the opslag Wko at 0,50%, the gedifferentieerde premie Whk set for your sector by Belastingdienst decision, and the werkgeversheffing Zvw at 6,10%. Together they run from 16,55% to 28,60% of total gross pay, with 16,77% typical on a permanent contract. All five stop at € 79.409 of pay in 2026, which is why the percentage falls on higher salaries.
Vakantiegeld at 8%
The holiday allowance is pay, not a tax, and it is the line foreign employers most often forget to budget:
- Article 15 WML sets the statutory minimum at 8% of the wage the employer owes. Pay above three times the minimum wage may be left out of the calculation, so anything more than that is contractual.
- There is no statutory payment month. May or June in one payment is the practice. Dutch salaries are normally quoted as a gross figure with the 8% on top, so every offer has to say which it is.
Deductions the employee sees
Loonbelasting and premie volksverzekeringen are withheld together as loonheffingen:
- The 2026 box 1 rate is 35,75% up to € 38.883, then 37,56% up to € 78.426, then 49,50%. Bracket one is mostly national insurance: AOW, Anw and Wlz make up 27,65 of those 35,75 points.
- Against that run the algemene heffingskorting, worth up to € 3.115, and the arbeidskorting, worth up to € 5.685. The employee elects in writing which employer applies them, and only one may.
- An ordinary employee has no Zvw deduction. The employer pays the 6,10% levy instead.
Worked example
A base salary of € 48.000, the CPB modal figure for 2026
Total employer cost
€ 60.533,57
€ 48.000 base, plus € 3.840,00 vakantiegeld, plus € 8.693,57 of employer charges. That is 26,11% on top of the base salary
Employee net pay
€ 40.051,73
After € 11.788,27 of loonheffingen on total gross pay of € 51.840,00, an effective rate of 22,74%
2026 rates. A permanent, written, full-time arbeidsovereenkomst, so the low AWf rate applies. A small employer in sector 43, so Aof is 6,27% and Whk 1,16%. The employee is under AOW age, applies the loonheffingskorting with this employer and has no 30% ruling. Assuming no CAO applies and no occupational pension scheme is compulsory.
We work each of those lines out every period, withhold the loonheffingen, file the loonaangifte to the Belastingdienst and issue the payslip. Vakantiegeld accrues alongside at 8% and is paid out separately. You get one invoice covering the salary, the statutory employer charges and our fee.
The EOR process in the Netherlands
What has to happen before someone can start
Employing someone in the Netherlands runs in a fixed order. Part of it has to be finished before the first working day, and the rest repeats every period for as long as the person is on the payroll.
An employer has to be registered with the Belastingdienst before it takes anyone on. That registration issues the loonheffingennummer used on every return, along with the aangiftebrief, the sectoraansluiting and the Whk percentage that sets part of the employer charge.
The arbeidsovereenkomst is drawn up under Burgerlijk Wetboek boek 7, and the article 7:655 written terms go with it: the place of work, the function, the hours, the pay and its separate components, the leave entitlement and how notice is given. A proeftijd only goes in where the contract can lawfully carry one, since article 7:652(6)(a) BW makes it void in a contract of six months or less.
Before the first working day the employer must hold the employee’s BSN, a verified identity document and a signed employee statement giving name, address and date of birth. Without all three the anoniementarief applies: 52,00% withheld on the whole wage, no credits, and no ceiling on the employee insurance premiums.
Then the monthly cycle starts. Loonbelasting and premie volksverzekeringen come off together as loonheffingen, the employer charges are worked out on premieloon up to € 79.409, and the loonaangifte goes to the Belastingdienst each period.
Vakantiegeld accrues at 8% under article 15 WML alongside the monthly pay, and is normally paid out in a single amount in May or June rather than spread across the year.
The sequence is the same whatever the sector. What changes is whether a CAO reaches the role, because a sector agreement that has been declared generally binding applies to an employer that never signed it, and can impose a wage scale, extra leave days, a 13th month or a pension.
Getting someone started
A start date that holds, because the paperwork happens before it
Most of the delay in a Dutch start date comes from waiting on details only you and the employee can supply. Once we have the role, the salary, the hours and the person’s identity document, the rest runs to a fixed order, and we would rather move the date by a day than start someone on the anoniementarief.
Everything in one place
Contracts, written terms, payslips and leave balances, open whenever you want them.
The paperwork in the right order
The arbeidsovereenkomst, the article 7:655 written terms and the identity checks, all finished before day one.
A run that ties back
Loonheffingen withheld at the 2026 rates and reported in the loonaangifte every period.
A fee that does not move with salary
from €599 per employee per month, whatever the salary. Statutory charges are billed at what was actually paid.
No company of your own
The EOR becomes the legal employer. You keep the work, the targets and the budget.
The statutory duties sit on the contract
Leave counted in hours, the 104-week sick pay duty, and the permission needed before any notice.
One contact, not a queue
The awkward questions are the ones worth having a person for
One named contact covers onboarding, the monthly run and the everyday questions. They have read your contracts, so a query about a proeftijd that turned out to be void, or an opzegtermijn that has just moved from one month to two, does not start with you explaining the background again.
Get in touchEOR vs. your own entity
Do you need your own Dutch B.V., or can you use an EOR?
There are two routes. You can incorporate a company of your own, normally a besloten vennootschap, or the EOR can become the legal employer of the person you hire. Capital is not the obstacle on the first route: a B.V. needs one eurocent. The notarial deed and the registrations that follow it are.
Setting up your own Dutch B.V.
A B.V. is incorporated by notariële akte before a Dutch notaris, in person or online. The notaris then registers the company and each managing director in the KvK Handelsregister and enters the ultimate beneficial owners in the UBO register. Minimum share capital is one eurocent, so the money is not the obstacle.
Separately, the company has to register with the Belastingdienst as an employer before it takes anyone on, which is what issues the loonheffingennummer, the sectoraansluiting and the Whk percentage. After that the payroll administration, the monthly loonaangifte and the corporate tax return are yours to run.
- Incorporation by notariële akte before a Dutch notaris
- Vennootschapsbelasting at 19,0% on profit to € 200.000, 25,8% above it
- Registration with the Belastingdienst as an employer before the first hire
- A loonheffingennummer, a sectoraansluiting and a Whk beschikking to manage
- A gebruikelijk loon of at least € 58.000 where a director holds a substantial interest
Using an employer of record in the Netherlands
The EOR becomes the legal employer of the person you hire, on a Dutch arbeidsovereenkomst. There is no deed to sign before a notaris, no Handelsregister entry, no UBO filing and no vennootschapsbelasting return. Payroll runs in euro, loonheffingen are withheld and reported in the loonaangifte, and the statutory employer duties sit on that contract.
- No company of your own to incorporate
- An arbeidsovereenkomst drawn up under Burgerlijk Wetboek boek 7
- Loonheffingen withheld and reported in the loonaangifte each period
- Vakantiegeld accrued at 8% and leave counted in hours
- One invoice covering salary, employer charges and our fee
Which route fits your hire?
Use an EOR when…
You are putting one person, or a handful, onto a Dutch contract, and a company, a notaris and a payroll administration for that headcount do not add up. It also suits a start date you cannot move, because nothing waits on an incorporation.
Set up a Dutch B.V. when…
You are building a permanent Dutch team, or you need a Dutch company for commercial reasons: holding contracts with Dutch customers, invoicing in your own name, or anything tied to the entity itself rather than to the people.
There is no headcount at which one becomes the right answer. It depends on what you want the Dutch operation to do, and for how long. We are happy to talk it through either way.
Employee Entitlements
What your employees in the Netherlands are entitled to
The statutory floor sits in Burgerlijk Wetboek boek 7 and the Wet arbeid en zorg. A CAO can raise every figure below, and a sector agreement declared generally binding reaches an employer that never signed it.
Annual leave
Article 7:634 BW sets the minimum at four times the agreed weekly working hours. A 40-hour contract earns 160 hours and a 20-hour contract earns 80, and both come to 20 days. Those statutory hours lapse six months after the end of the year they were earned, so on 30 June, under article 7:640a BW. Contractual days above the minimum run on a five-year limitation instead, under article 7:642 BW.
Public holidays
There are eleven official public holidays in 2026, from Nieuwjaarsdag on 1 January to Tweede Kerstdag on 26 December. None of them is a statutory paid day off. Rijksoverheid puts it plainly, feestdagen staan niet in de wet als verplichte vrije dagen: public holidays are not written into the law as days off. Whether a holiday is paid, and whether it comes out of the leave balance, is settled by the CAO or the arbeidsovereenkomst. Goede Vrijdag and Bevrijdingsdag are the two most often worked outside the public sector.
Sick pay
Article 7:629 BW keeps 70% of pay running for up to 104 weeks, and the employer pays it, not the state. For the first 52 weeks it cannot fall below the statutory minimum wage; after that there is no floor. Pay above the maximum dagloon of € 305,41 a day sits outside the duty. Article 7:670 BW blocks notice for the same two years, so the pay runs and the contract cannot be ended.
Maternity leave
Zwangerschapsverlof starts six weeks before the due date and bevallingsverlof runs ten weeks from the day after the birth, which gives at least sixteen weeks in total. UWV pays it at 100% of the dagloon, capped at € 305,41 a day. Articles 3:1(2) and 3:1(3) of the Wet arbeid en zorg.
Parental leave
Betaald ouderschapsverlof is nine times the weekly working hours and has to be taken before the child’s first birthday, paid by UWV at 70% of the dagloon and capped at 70% of the maximum. A further block, 26 times the weekly hours in total, is unpaid and can be taken up to the child’s eighth birthday. Articles 6:1 to 6:3 WAZO.
Partner leave
Geboorteverlof is one week for a full-timer, set as the weekly working hours, taken within four weeks of the birth and paid by the employer at 100%. Aanvullend geboorteverlof adds up to five more weeks, taken within six months and paid by UWV at 70% of the dagloon. Articles 4:2 and 4:2a WAZO.
Where this lands in practice
Leave is tracked in hours, so a part-timer’s balance is exact rather than roughly right, and wettelijke days get flagged before they lapse on 30 June. When someone reports sick, the Wet verbetering poortwachter dates go in the diary from the probleemanalyse in week 6 onwards, because it is missing those, rather than the illness itself, that leads UWV to add a third year of pay.
Our Services
What sits on our side of the line
Hiring in the Netherlands does not have to start with a notaris. The EOR becomes the legal employer of the person you have already chosen, and the monthly run, the leave record and the leaver paperwork all follow from that one contract.
What the service includes ›Dutch employment without a Dutch company
You pick the person and set the pay. The EOR becomes the legal employer on an arbeidsovereenkomst and handles everything that follows from it.
Monthly payroll and loonheffingen
Loonbelasting and premie volksverzekeringen withheld together, employer charges worked out on premieloon up to € 79.409, and the loonaangifte filed every period.
Employment questions answered
Answers drawn from Burgerlijk Wetboek boek 7 and from whichever CAO reaches the role, with the article number attached rather than a reference number.
Benefits above the Dutch statutory floor
Extra leave days, a thuiswerkvergoeding, a pension scheme or anything else you decide to offer, set up and administered on your instructions.
Employing in the Netherlands
Show me howvakantiegeld|actually works
Most of what surprises a foreign employer here is written down somewhere in Burgerlijk Wetboek boek 7. The guide works through the fourteen questions we are asked most, from what an employee costs to why notice needs somebody else’s permission first.
Read the employment guide ›How we work
What you are actually buying
Not software. What you are buying is the part of Dutch employment that costs money when it goes wrong: 104 weeks of sick pay at 70% under article 7:629 BW, the permission UWV or the kantonrechter has to give before notice can even be served, and a transitievergoeding that falls due even where a fixed-term contract is simply not renewed. Those duties sit on the arbeidsovereenkomst, and the arbeidsovereenkomst is not with you.
Book a DemoCommon questions
No. The EOR becomes the legal employer of the person you hire, on a Dutch arbeidsovereenkomst. There is no company of your own to incorporate, no notariële akte to sign before a notaris, no KvK Handelsregister entry and no vennootschapsbelasting return. You choose the person, set the salary and run the work.
Usually within a few working days. Drafting the arbeidsovereenkomst is rarely what holds it up. What does is the employee’s BSN and a verified identity document, both of which have to be in hand before the first working day, because without them the whole wage is withheld at the anoniementarief of 52,00% with no credits and no premium ceiling. Give us the role, the salary and the hours and we will tell you the earliest date that actually holds.
No, and this is the difference that catches foreign employers hardest. An employer generally needs permission before it can give notice at all: UWV for redundancy and long-term incapacity, the kantonrechter for the other grounds, drawn from the exhaustive list of nine in article 7:669(3) BW, and only after a redeployment test. Notice then runs from one to four months by length of service, and the transitievergoeding is a third of a month’s pay for each year worked, capped at € 102.000 in 2026. Most endings are settled instead by vaststellingsovereenkomst, where the employee keeps 14 days to change their mind, or three weeks if the agreement fails to say so.
From €599 per employee per month, and flat whatever the salary. It covers the employment administration, the monthly loonaangifte and the HR support. The salary, the employer social charges and the 8% vakantiegeld sit outside it and are billed at what was actually paid. No percentage of salary, no setup charge and no minimum headcount.
What would this person actually cost?
Give us the job title, the hours and the gross salary. Back comes the employer cost worked out at 2026 rates, the date the person could realistically start, and what has to be held before their first working day.
The arbeidsovereenkomst, the loonaangifte and the leave record are ours. The work, the targets and the pay review stay yours.
Speak to an expert
Get in touch
Tell us about the Dutch role
Send the role and the salary. Someone who works on Dutch employment every day will come back to you, usually the same working day.
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