Draft bill would cap temporary agency work at three years with the same company
If the company wants to keep an agency worker beyond 36 months, it would have to offer a permanent contract directly. The proposal is not law; consultation runs until 24 November.
Temporary agency workers could work for the same company for no more than three years under a draft bill that the Dutch government put out for public consultation on 29 October. The proposal is not law, and anyone can comment on it until 24 November.
Under the draft, an agency worker on a fixed-term contract could be placed with the same hirer, the company where the work is done, for at most 156 weeks, or 36 months. If that company wants to keep the worker for longer, it must offer a permanent contract directly. The worker does not become an employee of the company automatically.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the count at the same hirer would not start again if the worker switches to another agency or moves to a different role there. Companies could still use agency workers, but they could not keep the same person on an agency basis indefinitely.
No fixed limit for permanent agency contracts
Some agency workers have a permanent contract with their agency. For them, the government says, the work at a hirer must also be temporary, but there is no fixed maximum. What counts as temporary depends on the situation, and a court can assess it.
Why the rules are changing
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that under the EU Temporary Agency Work Directive, agency work must be temporary. The Netherlands is now writing that requirement into Dutch law. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment says agency workers will be better protected because they can no longer work indefinitely for the same hirer.
What happens next
The draft bill, the explanatory memorandum and a response form are on the consultation page. The ministry reviews the responses, and they can lead to changes in the proposal. After that, the bill would still have to pass through parliament.
The government intends the new rules to take effect on 1 January 2028. That date is a target, not a decision. Until a law is passed and comes into force, the current rules for agency work continue to apply, and nothing changes yet for agency workers or the companies that hire them.
