Introduction

On 20 September, the Dutch Government presented their key plans and the distribution of the national budget for the coming year. This blog provides an overview of how a selection of these plans may affect employers and employees in The Netherlands.

The key plans

Exceptional minimum wage increase

Currently, the minimum wage is 1.756,20 EUR gross per month on the basis of full time employment. On 1 January 2023, minimum wage will increase by 10,15%. This increase is more than initially anticipated due to exceptionally high inflation. Employment-related benefits and state pension benefits will increase at the same rate.

Tax relief measures

The tax exemption for a work from home allowance will be increased from 2,00 EUR to 2,13 EUR in 2023.

Furthermore, the Government has proposed to increase the tax exemption for travel allowances from 0,19 EUR to 0,21 EUR per kilometre from 1 January 2023, and to 0,22 EUR from 1 January 2024.

Income taxes will be reduced, resulting in an increase in employees' net income.

Equal pay

The Member States of the European Union are currently negotiating a directive on wage transparency.[1] In anticipation of this, the Cabinet will prepare the Dutch elaboration of this proposal, as wage transparency makes an important contribution to addressing pay disparities.

Restrictions on the non-compete clause

Non-compete clauses lead to a restriction on labour mobility. Therefore, the Government has announced to propose amendments to restrict the scope of the non-compete clause in 2023.

Measures to stimulate indefinite term contracts and regulations on flexible contracts

The Government aims to stimulate sustainable working relationships to increase job and income security for workers. To this effect, measures to stimulate indefinite term contracts are currently being drafted.

The Government also aims to take regulative measures for workers with flexible contracts. Examples of these measures are restricting on-call work and min-max contracts to solely (high school) students and the limitation of the number of fixed-term contracts to three, regardless of the intervals between the contracts.

Combating false self-employment (“schijnzelfstandigheid”)

The Dutch Government wishes to provide more clarity around the qualification of employment relationships.

Since 2021, the Government has been developing an online tool which can be used to get an indication of whether an employment relationship exists. A pilot of this tool can already be used. Please note that the results of this tool are not binding yet.

Moreover, the Government wishes to take measures to effectively claim an employment contract. For instance, in case of a dispute over whether a worker is working on the basis of an employment contract, the alleged employer will have to prove that this is not the case, rather than the other way around.

In addition, to counter the risk of sudden loss of income, occupational disability insurance will be made mandatory for the self-employed.

We will keep you updated about the implementation of these measures and are happy to answer any questions about what these measures could mean for your business.