Netherlands Senate adopts hourly-rate presumption law for freelancers (Bill 36783)

The Eerste Kamer adopted the Wet invoering rechtsvermoeden arbeidsovereenkomst op basis van uurtarief on 16 June 2026, separating the hourly-rate presumption from the broader Wet VBAR (Verbetering Beoordeling Arbeidsrelaties) framework that was withdrawn earlier this year. The bill creates a procedural presumption of employment for self-employed workers (ZZP’ers) earning below €38 per hour, with the reference date set at 1 January 2026. Under the new rule, the burden of proof shifts to the client to demonstrate that a contractual relationship is genuinely a freelance engagement rather than disguised employment.

Why this matters

For ZZP’ers earning under €38 per hour, this is a material change in how a client can defend a freelance arrangement if challenged. The presumption does not automatically reclassify the relationship as employment, but it forces the client to rebut the presumption with evidence. The €38/hour threshold is deliberately set at the level the Dutch government considers economically dependent on a single client, and pairs with the Belastingdienst’s parallel enforcement of false-self-employment rules through 2026. For foreign companies engaging Dutch ZZP’ers at rates below this threshold, the litigation and tax exposure has just moved up the stack.

The law must be published in the Staatsblad by 31 August 2026, with a targeted commencement of 31 December 2026 or 1 January 2027. The deadline is not arbitrary: the Netherlands has approximately €600 million in EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funding tied to the milestone, so the timetable is hard rather than soft. Combined with the parallel withdrawal of the Wet VBAR framework and the Belastingdienst’s “soft landing” enforcement through 1 January 2027, the Dutch self-employment regime is being rebuilt around an hourly-rate presumption rather than the broader market-test approach that VBAR proposed.

For the wider European context, see our Netherlands remote work guide for the current state of self-employment, payroll and cross-border hiring in the country.