Temp agency work in the Netherlands: check your contract

This guide is for you if you work through an agency or are considering an offer. The 2026–2028 agency-work CAO applies only when the agency is bound by it. Statutory rights apply even without that CAO. These include the Waadi (Wet allocatie arbeidskrachten door intermediairs, the law on supplying workers), minimum wage and working-time protection. Ask the agency in writing which CAO and contract rules cover you.

The contract rules depend on who recruited you, who employs you and who directs your work. Compare the four arrangements below.

Check your right to work separately from your contract, agency registration or BSN (citizen service number). Read the wording on your residence document with the work rights by residence permit guide. If you need a TWV (tewerkstellingsvergunning, work permit) or GVVA (gecombineerde vergunning voor verblijf en arbeid, single residence and work permit), the job must be covered before you start. Both the agency and the hirer must check. If the agency holds a TWV, it must give you and the hirer a copy.

Ask the agency for all seven sets of details below before your first shift:

• The agency’s legal name, KVK (Kamer van Koophandel, Chamber of Commerce) (External site, opens in a new tab) number and contact person.
• The employment contract: duration, hours, fase (contract stage), notice rules, and whether it contains an uitzendbeding or uitsluiting loondoorbetaling (exclusion of wage payment when there is no work).
• The assignment confirmation: hirer, workplace, job and pay classification, hourly rate, allowances, expected hours, travel payment and start date.
• The name and current version of every applicable CAO. Ask for the exact agreement if the agency says “the usual agency rules”.
• The call and cancellation rules, the availability you agreed, and who approves your recorded hours.
• Safety risks, required qualifications and protective equipment in information you understand.
• A separate written housing agreement if the agency also provides a room.

The agency pays your wage and holiday allowance. It handles pension contributions and issues your payslip.

Both parties have safety duties. The hirer has the main responsibility for a safe workplace. The Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie (Netherlands Labour Authority) (External site, opens in a new tab) explains these duties.

The agency may not charge you a placement, administration or deposit fee for finding you work.

Your phase sets the contract limits if the agency-work CAO applies. These are the rules in force in October 2026:

In phase A, worked weeks and paid holiday weeks count. A week with even a small amount of work counts once. A break of more than 6 months currently resets the count. Phase B counts calendar time and also resets after a break of more than 6 months. Keep your own week count from contracts and payslips.

In phase A, if your next contract starts within 1 month with the same agency for the same hirer, it must last at least 4 weeks.

On 1 January 2028, phase B becomes at most 2 years and the normal reset break becomes 3 years. Phase A stays at 52 worked weeks. Transition rules preserve some contracts made before 2028. Check the current CAO from ABU (Algemene Bond Uitzendondernemingen, the agency employers’ association) (External site, opens in a new tab) for the rules that apply to your contract.

The effect of an ended assignment depends on your contract. Compare your situation with these CAO rules:

The agency clause must be agreed in writing. It is not permitted in phases B and C. Under this CAO, your assignment and employment cannot end at the hirer’s request through the agency clause while sickness prevents you from working. An agreed contract end date still applies. Ask the agency to name the exact clause if it says your employment has ended.

Check these six rules when the agency offers shifts or changes your schedule:

• The agency must normally send an on-call shift in writing or electronically at least 4 days ahead. The 2026 CAO can use a shorter period that applies to comparable hirer employees. The agency must tell you first, and the period must be at least 24 hours.
• If the agency cancels or changes a call inside the applicable notice period, you keep the right to pay for the original hours.
• If you have no fixed hours, or work under 15 hours a week without fixed times, each call you attend gives at least 3 hours’ pay. You must have started work, even if you worked less than 3 hours.
• After 12 months on an on-call contract, an employer that keeps employing you must offer fixed hours based on your average. You may reject the offer. Some seasonal contracts have an exception.
• If no fixed working times were agreed, your stated availability guides scheduling. The agency cannot demand excessive availability. Changes require agreement.
• The agency’s time record must separate normal hours, hours with allowances and overtime. You may inspect the original and ask for a copy. In a dispute, the agency must prove the hours.

Save rosters, shift messages, clock records and the name of anyone who sends you home. Compare them with every payslip. If you attended a shift and hours disappear from the record, ask for a written explanation. The cancellation or minimum-three-hour pay rules may apply.

Compare your job classification and pay package with those of a comparable worker employed by the hirer. The Waadi already protects listed conditions such as pay, allowances, working time, breaks, overtime and holiday length. For agencies bound by the 2026–2028 CAO, gelijkwaardige arbeidsvoorwaarden (equivalent employment conditions) go further. Your total package must be worth at least as much as that of a comparable worker employed by the hirer. This becomes a statutory requirement on 31 December 2026.

The CAO distinguishes two groups of conditions:

Use these four checks to compare your pay package:

• Ask which hirer job and pay scale the agency used. Check where it appears in the assignment confirmation or payslip.
• Include shift allowances, overtime, travel payments and scheduled pay increases. A higher hourly rate does not automatically cover every missing benefit.
• The statutory minimum hourly wage still applies. From 1 July 2026 it is €14.99 gross for workers aged 21 or older. Check the 2026 minimum wage amounts by age (External site, opens in a new tab).
• Ask for a written calculation if your package differs from the hirer’s. Equivalent conditions can have different individual benefits. The agency must be able to explain the comparison.

For example, a worker aged 21 or older has 30 paid hours in one week in October 2026. At the July 2026 minimum rate, the wage is 30 × €14.99 = €449.70 gross. Allowances and holiday allowance are separate checks; deductions affect the net amount paid into the bank.

Check these six parts of your payslip and leave record:

• Under the CAO, every wage payment comes with a payslip. Check worked hours, gross hourly wage, each allowance and its hours, deductions and the minimum hourly wage. It must name the agency and worker, show any hirer classification and explain abbreviations. Also check whether it records a written, indefinite or on-call contract. Save a copy outside the agency portal.
• The agency must pay holiday allowance in May or by the first week of June, unless you and the agency agreed periodic payment. Statutory holiday days earned in phases A and B expire 1 year after the earning year ends. Phase C statutory days and extra days expire 5 years after the earning year ends.
• The old system of saving wage amounts for most leave items ended on 1 January 2026. The holiday-allowance reserve remains. Old statutory holiday reserves became holiday time. Other old reserves were paid out unless agreed otherwise. Check your old balances and current holiday record.
• In 2026, the StiPP (Stichting Pensioenfonds voor Personeelsdiensten, pension fund for agency and seconded workers) (External site, opens in a new tab) contribution is 23.4% of the pension base. This is the part of your pay used to calculate pension contributions. The agency pays 15.9% and you pay 7.5%. Under the standard CAO calculation, a higher hirer employer contribution rate requires compensation through other employment conditions. The agency may instead compare contribution amounts for the group of agency workers at that hirer, using each scheme’s pension base. Your total employment conditions must remain equivalent. Ask which calculation it used.
• You and the agency must agree an ET-regeling (extraterritorial-cost exchange scheme) under the CAO in writing. It can exchange at most 30% of gross wage and must keep your pay at or above the minimum. Since 1 January 2026, living costs in the Netherlands and private calls home no longer qualify for tax-free reimbursement. Ask which documented costs the agency uses.
• A deduction without a basis in law or the CAO needs your agreement. Every deduction must appear on the payslip. Under the CAO, the agency cannot charge social or administrative help for a migrant worker through the payslip.

Report sickness to both the agency and the hirer as early as possible. Under the CAO, you must report before 10:00 on the first day. Give the address where you are recovering and keep proof of the report. Your rights depend on whether your employment contract continues, even if the hirer has ended the assignment.

• If your contract continues, the agency pays sick pay under the contract, law and applicable CAO after any valid waiting day. If the assignment has ended but the CAO duty to pay continues, you receive 90% of your basic wage in weeks 1–52, at least the minimum wage. You receive 80% of your basic wage in weeks 53–104.
• For variable hours, the 2026 CAO normally uses the average paid hours over the previous 13 calendar weeks. It excludes overtime that is not regular. If you worked for a shorter period, it uses the hours you could reasonably expect.
• If a phase A contract reaches its agreed end date during sickness, a Ziektewet (Sickness Benefits Act) benefit may take over. For covered workers, the CAO tops it up to 90% of the daily wage used to calculate the benefit in weeks 1–52. The top-up is to 80% in weeks 53–104.

Special CAO housing rules cover workers who are not permanent Dutch residents and were recruited abroad or housed here for work. Frontier workers with a permanent home in Belgium or Germany are excluded from these special CAO rules. Housing may not be compulsory or a condition for an assignment. For EU (European Union) labour migrants, rental agreements made since 1 July 2023 must be separate from employment agreements. The landlord must give written housing-rights information in a language the tenant understands.

Check these five parts of any agency housing offer:

• If the agency charges for housing or deducts it from pay, CAO quality standards apply. Ask for the PKS (prijs-kwaliteitssysteem, price-quality system) score. For 2026–2027, the PKS price is normally capped at €159.85 a week and may have to be lower. A salary-based exception and a separate formula for housing outside PKS exist. Check annex V of the CAO rather than accepting one maximum for every room.
• Check the housing price and the amount deducted from wages separately. Deducting housing from minimum wage needs written authorisation. The home must belong to a housing corporation or meet CAO quality standards with a certified landlord. The normal limit is 25% of the gross minimum wage you are entitled to. Separate deduction rules apply to workers with an occupational disability. Under the CAO, you can withdraw authorisation and each deduction must be specified.
• When employment ends, the CAO normally gives you 4 weeks to leave agency housing. The rent cannot rise during that period, payments are weekly and the agency cannot demand advance payment. Illness or special personal circumstances can require a suitable longer period.
• The agency cannot charge another worker for the same bed during a period you already paid for. It must also tell you about BRP (Basisregistratie Personen, municipal personal records database) registration.
• Agency transport to and from your home country and an offered Dutch health-insurance policy are optional. You may arrange your own. If your conditions already give a commuting allowance, the agency cannot also charge you for the provided commute.

Use the guide to finding a rental to compare alternatives before the assignment ends.

Use the health insurance guide to check your own policy deadline.

This guarantee covers workers who are not permanently resident in the Netherlands. It excludes frontier workers with a permanent home in Belgium or Germany. If the agency recruits you abroad and you come to the Netherlands to work for that agency for the first time, the CAO gives an income guarantee for the first 2 months. You receive at least the full-time minimum wage for your age, even if you work fewer hours. Full-time means 36 hours a week, or the hirer’s longer full-time week.

A short project can have a shorter guarantee. The agency must put the project in your contract and explain its duration and conditions before you travel. If the project lasts at least 2 months after all, the 2-month guarantee applies.

In the first 2 weeks, the guarantee can end if the agency stops offering work because of poor performance or conduct you are responsible for. Article 52 also allows this in other situations where the guarantee does not fit. In that case, the agency must pay your return travel and offer 5 consecutive nights in agency housing at its expense. Article 52 also requires cancellation of certain unpaid debts from those first 2 weeks. These concern agency-arranged travel, housing or health insurance that could not legally be deducted or offset.

If those circumstances arise after the first 2 weeks, your income guarantee continues for the rest of the 2 months. Ask the agency to confirm the guarantee and any exception in writing before you travel.

Use these three checks before you accept work or agency housing:

• Use the public KVK Waadi registration check (External site, opens in a new tab) with the agency’s legal name or KVK number. Suppliers must be registered. If registration is missing, ask the agency to resolve it before you start.
• Search the voluntary register of SNA (Stichting Normering Arbeid, labour standards foundation) (External site, opens in a new tab). SNA certification and government admission are separate checks. Certification can reduce the hirer’s tax-liability risk under conditions. It does not guarantee that your pay is correct, so check your payslips separately.
• If housing is offered, search the register of SNF (Stichting Normering Flexwonen, housing standards foundation) (External site, opens in a new tab). Ask which exact location was inspected. Inspections are periodic. Check your room’s current condition as well as the provider’s register entry.

The Wtta (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten, admission law for suppliers of workers) takes effect on 1 January 2027. The NAU (Nederlandse Autoriteit Uitleenmarkt, Labour Supply Market Authority) (External site, opens in a new tab) starts assessing applications on 1 July 2027. From 1 January 2028, the Labour Authority enforces the admission duty. Hirers must check that suppliers have admission, an exemption or valid transitional status, unless a statutory exception applies. Check the NAU admission register (External site, opens in a new tab) for the supplier’s status. Until then, use the Waadi check and current registers. An agency’s promise to apply does not confirm that it meets the current rules.

Follow these steps when the agency says your employment has ended:

1. Ask for the written reason and effective date.
2. Compare them with your agency clause, agreed end date and notice rules.
3. Download the final payslip, contracts, hour records and messages before portal access closes.

Check unpaid wages, allowances, holiday allowance, leave balance, deductions and pension in the final settlement.

A transitievergoeding is normally due from the first workday when the agency dismisses you or does not renew a temporary contract. Resigning usually removes entitlement, except where the employer’s serious misconduct caused it. An equivalent renewal offered before the contract ends can also remove entitlement, even if you decline it.

If the transition payment is missing, you have 3 months after employment ends to ask the court for it. Get legal help before that deadline. Under the CAO, if you miss it, you can claim an equal compensation payment within 12 months after employment ends. This applies only where the transition payment was legally due and was unpaid or underpaid.

If you have agency housing, check the 4-week exit period where the CAO applies.

If you are unemployed, check your eligibility for WW (Werkloosheidswet, unemployment benefit). UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, Employee Insurance Agency) (External site, opens in a new tab) accepts applications from 1 week before your first unemployment day. You must apply within 1 week after that day. Use the guide to unemployment benefit after job loss to check the conditions.

Check whether sickness or your residence status changes what you must do next.

Choose the route for your problem below. You can report unsafe work, illegal work or exploitation directly to the Labour Authority’s reporting service (External site, opens in a new tab). Ask the agency for a correction only if it is safe to do so.

Keep one folder from your first workday: contracts, assignment confirmations, housing agreements, residence and work documents, rosters, clock records, payslips, bank payments, sick reports and messages. Put the events in date order so an adviser can check what happened.

Before signing, check five things: the work arrangement, applicable CAO, phase, agency clause and hirer’s pay classification. If any answer is missing, ask the agency to put it in writing before you start. If you are already working and pay or contract rights are disputed, use the help routes above.

Continue with these checks. The third link applies if you still need ONA (Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt, Dutch labour-market orientation) for inburgering (civic integration):

• Dutch employment contracts: what to check before you sign
• Free and subsidised legal help in the Netherlands
• ONA exemption: check whether your paid work qualifies