“Can I safely hire this self-employed person?” This has been a frequent client question in recent years.
This is not because they don’t want to work with self-employed individuals. On the contrary. But there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the classification of employment relationships in the Netherlands. When is someone truly self-employed, and when does it turn out, in hindsight, that an employment contract was in place after all?
That uncertainty has consequences. Incorrect classification can lead to additional payroll tax assessments and fines for a client, among other things. We see the result in practice: organizations are becoming more cautious about hiring self-employed individuals.
After years of debate, the new Dutch Self-Employed Persons Act is set to change that.
Knowing where you stand in advance
On October 1, 2026, the online consultation for the Self-Employed Persons Act began. The goal sounds promising: greater clarity for both self-employed individuals and clients.
To that end, the bill introduces two tests: the self-employment test and the employment relationship test.
The self-employment test focuses on the entrepreneur or worker. According to the proposal, it considers three points:
In the third...
A Wixom, Michigan, business accused of making false statements to obtain a loan has agreed to pay a settlement of just over $1.5 million after it was sued by the federal government, according to th...