15 Jan '26
A new year also brings new employment law changes. This blog briefly highlights the most important changes as of 1 January 2026. We also look ahead by briefly addressing upcoming changes later in 2026 and expected changes in 2027.
Each year, certain allowances/amounts are indexed. Below we briefly list the main indexations as of 1 January 2026:
The tax-free travel allowance has not been increased. It will remain €0.23 per kilometre in 2026.
As of 1 January 2026, a new collective labour agreement (CLA) applies to temporary agency workers. From that date, temporary agency workers covered by this CLA are entitled to employment conditions that are at least equivalent to those applicable at the client for employees in an identical or comparable position.
Important: a transitional arrangement applies for temporary agency workers who receive a lower income as a result of the new CLA. They will retain their existing entitlements to salary, holiday leave and holiday allowance until 1 July 2026.
For temporary agency workers who became unfit for work before 1 January 2026 and are still unfit for work on that date, a transitional period also applies until 1 July 2026. During this transitional period, continued payment of wages during illness will take place under the old CLA, including the associated arrangements regarding holidays and holiday allowance.
For secondment, a different CLA applies, specifically for secondment agencies. This CLA is based on the CLA for temporary agency workers but tailored to secondment practice through adjustments in definitions and terminology.
In our blog last year on employment law changes, we already discussed the legislative proposal to limit the compensation scheme for the transition allowance in cases of long-term incapacity for work due to sickness to small employers. A small employer is one with a wage bill of up to 25 times the average premium wage per employee per calendar year.
The Council of State was critical of this legislative proposal and proposed a more fundamental approach: abolishing the right to a transition allowance in cases of long-term incapacity for work due to sickness. After all, the employer has already incurred considerable costs by continuing to pay wages during sickness for two years (or sometimes even three years). Despite the Council of State’s criticism, the legislative proposal was submitted to the House of Representatives without amendments. The intended effective date is 1 July 2026.
The issue of false self-employment and its enforcement by the Tax Authorities has been a topic of discussion for some time in the Netherlands. We previously wrote about two court rulings that illustrate this issue well and contain important points of attention for organisations working with (false) self-employed workers.
As of 1 January 2025, the Tax Authorities lifted the enforcement moratorium. This means the Tax Authorities could impose correction obligations or additional assessments not only in cases of ‘bad faith’. However, a so-called ‘soft landing’ applied in 2025: the Tax Authorities would not impose fines. Shortly before the end of 2025, it was decided to extend this soft landing. This means the Tax Authorities will first apply lighter measures, such as a company visit. In doing so, the Tax Authorities aim to start a dialogue before imposing fines. Only in cases of clear false self-employment can fines follow.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive aims to reduce the pay gap between men and women. The directive must be transposed into national legislation by June 2026. The Netherlands opts for a pure implementation of the directive: the legislative proposal closely follows the directive and does not make use of the option offered by the directive to introduce additional legislation. For employers, this means there is work to be done. What exactly? For this, we refer to an earlier blog on this topic.
Organisations with ten or more employees are expected to be required to adopt a formal code of conduct against undesirable behaviour as of 1 July 2026. However, the effective date is not yet final, as the Senate and House of Representatives still need to approve the legislative proposal. The code of conduct must clearly define what behaviour is considered undesirable within the organisation. In addition, it must set out how employees can report incidents of undesirable behaviour.
Last year, the House of Representatives approved the legislative proposal introducing an admission system for temporary employment, the Act on Admission for the Provision of Workers (Wtta). In short, the Wtta stipulates that only lenders listed in a public register may lend out staff. Although the Wtta is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2027, it is advisable to anticipate this now by timely inventorying which organisations staff are hired from and whether the underlying agreements need to be revised in light of the Wtta.
The legislative proposal to modernise the non-compete clause is expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives in the first half of 2026. In an earlier blog, we already informed you about the implications of this legislative proposal.
A change to the Work and Care Act introducing a statutory scheme for bereavement leave is likely to follow in 2026. The intention is that employees with minor children whose partner or child dies will then be entitled to one working week of paid leave in the case of full-time employment. Bereavement leave may possibly be combined with a new, simplified leave system. A legislative proposal for this new system is still in preparation.
In short, many upcoming and expected changes. Those who subscribe to our newsletter will stay up to date. If you have any questions about these legislative changes or other employment law matters, our Employment Law team is ready to assist you. Feel free to contact us!
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