Employer of Record (EOR) in the Netherlands

Hire in the Netherlands in days, with no entity and no compliance guesswork. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

An Employer of Record legally employs your Dutch staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work; the EOR is the legal employer on paper, handling the contract, payroll, tax, and compliance.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for your business in the Netherlands

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Dutch staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in the Netherlands without forming your own company.

The EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Dutch legal entity and expertise:

  • A compliant employment contract with the correct CAO classification
  • Monthly payroll and loonheffing, plus the mandatory 8% holiday allowance
  • Employer social security and all filings to the Belastingdienst
  • Statutory benefits and sick-pay obligations
  • Compliant onboarding and lawful exits

You get a working team in days, not months. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in the Netherlands, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Dutch employment contract, with the right CAO (collective labour agreement) classification where your sector is covered.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, loonheffing (combined wage tax and national insurance), the mandatory 8% holiday allowance, employer social security, and all filings to the Belastingdienst.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, leave, the sick-pay obligations, and lawful onboarding and exits. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

From kick-off to first Dutch payslip

From first call to a compliant Dutch hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Dutch standards by the partner, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Dutch contract is issued, with proper CAO classification and statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

Loonheffing, the 8% holiday allowance, social security, and filings all handled. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in the Netherlands costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone, and the EOR partner fee. We make both transparent before you commit.

Employer social security

Roughly 16.6 to 23% on top of gross salary, varying by sector and contract; the employee’s own volksverzekeringen contribution, at 27.65%, is larger still and is withheld from salary, not billed to you. Your EOR partner calculates it correctly so there are no surprises.

Holiday allowance

A mandatory 8% of gross salary on top, usually paid as a lump sum in May. Easy to forget when budgeting; we factor it in up front.

Minimum wage (2026)

€14.99 per hour from 1 July 2026 (age 21+), reviewed twice yearly. The statutory floor for full-time work.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Income tax (employee)

Box 1 income tax runs 35.75% to EUR 38,883, 37.56% to EUR 78,426, and 49.50% above, withheld at source. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in the Netherlands, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

Dutch employer costs are not one flat number: WW, WIA, and Whk premiums vary by sector and by your own claims history, on top of a mandatory health-insurance contribution. That complexity is exactly why the partner’s own fee matters, and it is where we benchmark, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, renegotiating it for you at renewal.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across Europe

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across Europe, with the local knowledge that prevents the costly Dutch mistakes, on CAOs, sick pay, and contractor rules.

  • EOR specialists
  • Dutch CAO & sick-pay
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most clients use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own BV. We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to BV path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

The Dutch risks an EOR takes off your plate

Two areas catch foreign employers in the Netherlands more than any other. An EOR neutralises both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Contractor misclassification is now a sharper risk and the Netherlands has tightened regulations on disguised employment. The DBA already rules that both you and the contractor are responsible for proving a relationship is truly self-employed and a new employment-presumption rule (passed both chambers of parliament in 2026, taking effect once a royal decree sets the date) will presume employment below an hourly rate of EUR 38. Get this wrong and you face back taxes, employer social contributions, and reclassification, applied to you. An EOR removes the question entirely: the worker is properly employed from day one, so there is no misclassification to defend.

The two-year sick-pay obligation

A Dutch employer must keep paying a sick employee for up to two years, at a minimum of 70% of salary, and must actively fund and manage a reintegration process. You cannot simply dismiss during that period. For a foreign company employing directly, this is a serious, open-ended liability. Under an EOR, that obligation sits with the legal employer and is managed by people who do it every day. This is the real value of EOR in the Netherlands: not just speed, but moving the most expensive Dutch risks onto an expert built to carry them.

What the Dutch EOR covers, in full

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Dutch contract

A compliant Dutch employment contract with correct CAO classification, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll & holiday allowance

Monthly payroll run, with loonheffing and the 8% holiday allowance calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: annual leave, the two-year sick-pay obligation, parental leave, notice and lawful exits.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in the Netherlands.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Dutch EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant Dutch contract from day one. Compare that to the weeks a BV incorporation takes, during which you cannot legally employ anyone.

Yes, and this is one of its biggest advantages right now. With the DBA rules and the new 2026 employment-presumption regime tightening around contractors, employing through an EOR means the worker is properly employed from the start, so there is no misclassification exposure to manage.

Under direct employment you would carry up to two years of sick pay and a mandatory reintegration process. Through an EOR, that obligation sits with the legal employer and is managed by specialists. It is one of the main reasons foreign companies choose EOR for early Dutch hires.

The compliant contract, monthly payroll (loonheffing, holiday allowance, social security), statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own entity, and can support the BV formation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in the Netherlands?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working.

Tax and labour data verified June 2026 (Belastingdienst, PwC, OECD). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.