New Self-Employed Persons Act regarding the legal presumption of employment: How can you ensure compliance when hiring external staff?
The rules governing the hiring of self-employed individuals and other external contractors are changing. A key development in this regard is the proposed legislation establishing a legal presumption of employment for self-employed individuals with low hourly rates. The House of Representatives has approved this new law on self-employed individuals, and the regulation is expected to take effect on January 1, 2027.
For organizations that work with independent contractors, freelancers, and other forms of external staffing, this means that compliance, record-keeping, and risk management are becoming increasingly important. In this blog, you’ll learn:
- What the legal presumption means for self-employed individuals
- What risks do organizations face with bogus self-employment?
- How Olli helps you stay compliant
- What other laws and regulations regarding the use of external contractors are on the horizon?
What does the legal presumption of employment entail?
The new scheme is aimed at self-employed individuals who work for a relatively low hourly rate, expected to be less than 39 euros per hour.
If a self-employed person works below this rate threshold, it becomes easier to argue in court that there was, in fact, an employment contract rather than a self-employed business relationship. This is known as the legal presumption of employment.
If a judge agrees, the worker may be entitled to rights associated with regular employment, such as:
- continued pay during sick leave
- job security
- pension benefits
- other terms and conditions of employment under labor law
This can have significant consequences for clients. For example:
- Risks associated with bogus self-employment
- additional tax assessments
- fines imposed by the Internal Revenue Service
- employment law claims
- reputational damage related to hiring external staff
That is why it is becoming increasingly important to clearly demonstrate in advance why this constitutes self-employment.
More information on the laws and regulations governing the hiring of external staff can be found on the Dutch government’s website.
Why hiring in compliance with regulations is becoming increasingly important
Many organizations now rely on complex external staffing chains. For example:
- self-employed individuals
- freelancers
- secondment arrangements
- temporary workers
- brokers and MSPs
- external talent providers
This often leads to fragmentation in contracts, rates, documentation, and compliance processes.
New legislation regarding the hiring of self-employed workers makes it necessary to:
- identify risks earlier
- to work in compliance
- centralize documentation
- keep track of external hiring
- to actively curb bogus self-employment
That’s exactly where Olli helps organizations.
How Olli helps ensure compliance with regulations regarding the hiring of independent contractors
Olli helps organizations ensure compliant workforce management and mitigate risks associated with hiring external staff.
With Olli’s Flex Compliance Module, organizations can better manage compliance, record-keeping, and risk management related to flexible staffing and the hiring of independent contractors.
When a self-employed assignment is created in Olli at a rate below the legal presumption threshold, the platform automatically issues a warning. This immediately creates an additional checkpoint within the hiring process.
This helps recruiters, hiring managers, MSPs, and staffing specialists to critically evaluate questions such as:
- Is self-employment really a good fit here?
- Is this a case of potential bogus self-employment?
- Would another type of contract be more appropriate, such as secondment, temporary staffing, or a permanent employment contract?
For example, Olli helps organizations not only with tracking external hires, but especially with:
- compliance management
- risk management
- centralized record-keeping
- control over suppliers and contract types
- insight into external workforce processes
See also: Compliance with external hiring starts with an assessment.
Support with record-keeping and flexible work arrangements compliance
Sometimes an organization deliberately chooses to work with self-employed individuals even below this rate threshold. In such situations, maintaining accurate records becomes essential.
Olli’s Flex Compliance Module helps organizations with:
- recording relevant compliance documentation
- the periodic updating of files
- monitoring risk indicators
- centralized management of external hiring files
- supporting audits and inspections
In this way, Olli helps organizations be better prepared for audits and changes in laws and regulations concerning self-employed individuals and external labor.
More legislation regarding self-employed workers and the hiring of external staff is on the way
The legal presumption of employment does not stand alone. Meanwhile, the Dutch government is continuing to work on broader legislation regarding self-employment and employment relationships.
Minister Aartsen is currently working on the new Self-Employed Persons Act. This law is intended to provide greater clarity on:
- when someone is allowed to work as a self-employed person
- when an employment relationship exists
- How bogus self-employment is assessed
- what responsibilities clients have
For organizations, this means that compliant outsourcing will only become more important in the coming years.
That is why more and more organizations are opting for a single centralized platform that brings together external staffing, supplier management, contract management, workforce management, compliance, record-keeping, and risk analysis into one streamlined environment.
Met het Total Talent Dashboard van Olli krijgen organisaties realtime inzicht in externe inhuur, leveranciers, risico’s en complianceprocessen. Stel je het op prijs om een demonstratie hiervan te krijgen om ook grip te krijgen op je zzp-proces? Plan dan hier een demo, dan praten we je hierover bij.