Hiring in the Netherlands: routes, cost and employment rules
EREditorial team · Updated 14 Oct 202611 min read20 providers compared across EOR, COR and global payroll27 sources
€4,799 employer cost a month before the EOR fee, €45,000 salaryNot all-in: what it leaves out is under the cost table.
≈20% payroll levies, as a share of salary (charged on salary plus holiday allowance)
€14.99 minimum wage per hour, age 21 and over
20 EOR providers covering the Netherlands
You can hire in the Netherlands through your own Dutch entity, an Employer of Record or a self-employed contractor. Payroll levies add ≈20% to salary, and the employee is owed a holiday allowance of at least 8% besides.
Short answer
Your own entity can run payroll once it registers as an employer with the Tax Administration and gets a payroll tax number.
A €45,000 hire costs about €4,800 a month in salary, holiday allowance and levies, before the EOR fee and any pension.
Dutch law sets only an hourly minimum wage: €14.99 an hour from age 21, with no monthly floor.
For false self-employment the Tax Administration can impose penalty fines again, from 1 January 2026.
Set by the provider's onboarding; no Dutch entity of yours needed
On top of salary
≈20% payroll levies, the holiday allowance and the EOR fee; one provider publishes a euro fee, €299 a month, and other published fees are in US dollars
Nobody: a contract for services with a self-employed person
As soon as both sides sign
On the terms the contract sets
The Tax Administration judges how the work is done, not what the contract is called.
In the Netherlands each route has its own authority and its own date to watch. Your own entity needs one registration before the first payslip: it reports to the Tax Administration as an employer and receives a payroll tax number.[1] The EOR route sits next to the Wtta, the admission system for companies that lend out workers, which takes effect on 1 January 2027; how it touches an EOR is on the EOR page.[2] For contractors, the Tax Administration has applied its normal rules on false self-employment again since 1 January 2025, with no grace period, and it can impose penalty fines from 1 January 2026.[3] The test it applies is on the contractors page.
What one hire costs
Monthly cost of an employee on €45,000 a year: the cost before the EOR fee.
Assumes: Medium or large employer on a permanent, written, non-on-call contract, with Whk at the 2026 starting large employer percentage; the salary is stated before the holiday allowance.
Cost before the EOR fee, a month€4,799
Salary and mandatory pay€4,05084%
Employer contributions€74916%
Percentages are shares of the total, not of salary.
Plus the EOR fee, not in this total. Published fees per employee: €299 a month (one provider, EUR); US$99 to US$699 a month (17 providers, USD). We add a fee to the total only when at least 3 providers publish one in EUR, and we do not convert currencies.
Holiday allowance (vakantiegeld): The statutory minimum, paid to the employee on top of salary. An employee earning more than three times the minimum wage can agree in writing to a lower allowance or none.
Every levy line is charged on the salary plus the 8% holiday allowance (the allowance counts as wages for these levies), up to the yearly maximum contribution wage of EUR 79,409, which is the same for the employee insurances and the Zvw. The allowance itself is owed to the employee and is shown as its own line, not as a levy. The Whk percentage is set for each employer by the Tax Administration; 1.52% is the 2026 figure it gives a starting large employer. Small employers pay a lower Aof rate (6.27%), employees on fixed-term, on-call or unwritten contracts carry the high AWf rate (7.74%), and public employers pay a Ufo premium of 0.68% in place of AWf. Pension contributions are not included; most employees build a supplementary pension through the employer, and in some sectors the employer must place it with the industry pension fund.
Monthly[15]The statute sets no single frequency; wages fall due at the end of each pay period, which may be no shorter than one week and no longer than one month, extendable in writing (up to a quarter where the pay period is a month or more). Monthly is the usual practice.
Working time and leave
Statutory paid leave
20 days[16][17]The statute sets at least four times the agreed weekly working time per year, which the government counts as 160 holiday hours at 40 hours a week; 20 days is the five-day-week equivalent.
Public holidays
11 days[18]The government lists these as the official public holidays for 2026. No law gives an employee a day off on them; the collective agreement or the employment contract decides.
Sick pay
For up to 104 weeks of illness the employer keeps paying at least 70% of the wage, and in the first 52 weeks at least the statutory minimum wage (to the extent the wage does not exceed the daily social-insurance maximum).[19]
2 months[20]Two months on a permanent contract or a fixed-term contract of two years or more; one month on a fixed-term contract of more than six months and under two years; none on a contract of six months or less, or on a successor contract with the same employer that asks for the same skills.
Minimum notice
1 month[21][22]Employer notice by length of service on the day notice is given; one month under five years, two months from five years, three from ten, four from fifteen, and one month once the employee has reached state pension age. Where the UWV gave permission, the time its procedure took comes off the notice, leaving at least one month. The employee's notice is one month. Notice alone is not enough; without the employee's written consent the employer can give valid notice only in the cases the law lists, such as with UWV permission or during probation.
Severance
The transition payment (transitievergoeding) is one third of the gross monthly salary per year of service, worked out pro rata for part years. It is capped at EUR 102,000 gross from 1 January 2026, or one gross annual salary if that is higher.[23]The government's own formula for the remaining part of a contract is (gross salary earned over that part / gross monthly salary) x (1/3 of gross monthly salary / 12).
Income tax
Top income tax rate
49.5%[24]Wage tax and national insurance for employees below the state pension age in 2026 runs in three brackets, 35.75% up to EUR 38,883, 37.56% from there to EUR 78,426 and 49.50% above.
Needs a residence permit applied for by an employer the IND recognises as a sponsor. The 2026 gross monthly salary criterion is EUR 5,942 for age 30 or older, EUR 4,357 under 30 and EUR 3,122 under the reduced criterion.
The Tax Administration can impose penalty fines (vergrijpboetes) for false self-employment again; none were imposed in 2025, and fines for failing to comply (verzuimboetes) are still not imposed in 2026. Correction orders and payroll-tax back-assessments have been possible since 1 January 2025.[3]
The statutory hourly minimum wage for age 21 and older rises from EUR 14.71 to EUR 14.99.[14]
Companies that lend out workers and want the Wtta transitional arrangement can register with the NAU from 2026-11-01 to 2026-12-31.[27]
The Wtta (admission system for companies that lend out workers) takes effect and a transition year starts. This is the entry into force of the law only; the licence applications, the public register and the fines come later.[2][27]
The NAU starts assessing admission applications (submitted 2027-05-01 to 2027-06-30), and businesses that hire in workers can check its public register to see whether a lender is admitted, exempt or under the transitional arrangement.[27]
The Labour Inspectorate starts enforcing the Wtta; a lender without admission is fined, and so is a business that uses one.[2][27]
Who can employ for you in Netherlands
All 20 EOR providers we track that cover Netherlands, ranked by our EOR score. How we score
Startups, growing companies and enterprises, the three segments Pebl writes a page for
Not for
Buyers who need a Contractor of Record: we list Pebl for contractor management, not COR
Top pro
Own SOC 2 Type 2 report and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate, both on Pebl's security page
Top con
No live support channel named: Pebl lists its Alfie AI assistant, in-house experts and a Help Center; its pages say 24/7 support and do not say who answers
Multiplier Technologies Netherlands BV appears in a company register as its own entity.
7.4Our score 7.4 of 10Limited dataOur EOR score
EOR price from
US$459per employee a month, billed annually
Entity in Netherlands
Own entity
EOR countries160 claimed, 106 documented
Onboarding2–3 days
ServicesEOR · COR · Contractors · Payroll
Best for
Companies from startups to enterprises, going by Multiplier's segment pages
Not for
Buyers who need the deposit amount before signing: Multiplier calculates it per contract
Top pro
Own SOC 2 (Type I and II), SOC 3 and ISO 27001:2022 on its security page; the AWS certifications listed there are kept apart as the host's
Top con
The "from" prices assume an annual contract. Monthly EOR costs $499 on Core and $559 on Growth, about 11% of countries are priced differently, and compliance-mandated add-ons come on top of EOR and COR
Gives onboarding in the Netherlands as one to two days.
7.4Our score 7.4 of 10Our EOR score
EOR price from
US$399per employee a month
EOR countries180 claimed, 157 documented
Onboarding in Netherlands1–5 days
Deposit1 month
Minimum termNone
ServicesEOR · Contractors · Payroll
Best for
Companies from startups to enterprises: Playroll has pages for each, and its case studies include startups under 100 staff and mid-market firms of 100 to 1,000
Not for
Contractors who want to be paid other than through Payoneer, the only payout route Playroll uses
Top pro
Its own country pages document EOR hiring in 151 countries + 6 territories, against a claim of 180+
Top con
A refundable deposit of one month's salary per EOR employee; the unused part comes back within two months of the last working day, or once claims are settled if that is later
Enterprise teams and small and growing businesses (SMEs), in RemotePass's own words
Not for
Buyers who must review EOR contract terms up front: no EOR agreement is public
Top pro
EOR from $349 per employee a month with tax included; 13 of 20 other EOR prices in dollars start higher
Top con
No EOR agreement is public: the Terms say EOR runs under a separate Consultant Agreement "available on the Site", which we did not find. The public legal documents are the Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Acceptable Use Policy
States on its Netherlands page that it employs through an entity of its own.
6.6Our score 6.6 of 10Our EOR score
EOR price from
US$599per employee a month
EOR countries180 claimed, 151 documented
Minimum termNone
ServicesEOR · Contractors
Best for
A first hire in one new country or a team spread over many, at a startup, mid-market firm or enterprise (G-P has a page for each)
Not for
Buyers who rank EOR providers mostly by the monthly fee
Top pro
G-P claims EOR in 180+ countries; its Globalpedia country guides document 148 countries + 3 territories one by one
Top con
EOR from $599 per employee a month; 15 of 20 other EOR prices in US dollars that we compare start lower; volume discounts are offered but not quantified
Startups, scaling companies and enterprises, the three groups Native Teams writes for
Not for
Buyers who want to read the EOR or COR agreement before talking to sales: the terms of service are the only contract text online
Top pro
EOR from $99 per employee a month, below all 20 other per-employee EOR prices in USD we compare
Top con
The terms of service are the only contract text online. The EOR and COR agreements are not published, and the terms say a separate signed contract takes precedence
Rippling Netherlands B.V., based in Rotterdam, appears in a company register.
5.9Our score 5.9 of 10Limited dataOur EOR score
EOR price
Custom quote
Entity in Netherlands
Own entity
EOR countries80 claimed, 59 documented
ServicesEOR · Contractors · Payroll
Best for
Small businesses, including teams under 10 employees, startups and enterprises: the segments Rippling has pages for
Not for
Buyers who want to compare an EOR price before a sales call
Top pro
Contractor onboarding in 185+ countries and payments in 50+ local currencies, per its contractor page; 160 countries + 2 territories are documented here
Top con
No price for EOR, contractor management or global payroll: the pricing page asks for a custom quote
Its $599 platform fee leaves out local employer services, FX conversion and benefits premiums.
5.8Our score 5.8 of 10Our EOR score
EOR price from
US$599per employee a month
Entity in Netherlands
Own entity
EOR countries160 claimed, 146 documented
ServicesEOR · AOR
Best for
Enterprise-level companies, the audience Atlas's enterprise page names
Not for
Buyers who need a Contractor of Record: under Atlas's AOR the contract stays between the client and each contractor
Top pro
EOR in 141 countries + 5 territories documented here, against a claim of 160+ with wholly owned entities
Top con
At $599 per employee monthly, the EOR price is above 15 of the 20 other USD EOR prices we compare and equal to 4; local employer services, FX and benefits premiums are billed on top
The first Contractor of Record providers from the contractors page, which also covers the employee test, tax and how to pay.
The first 3 of 13 COR providers we score: those working in Netherlands first, each by our COR score. Working in Netherlands: 9 (1 by their COR coverage list, the rest inferred from their EOR coverage). How we score
The first global payroll providers from the payroll page, which also covers set-up, registrations and filings.
The first 3 of 14 global payroll providers we score: those working in Netherlands first, each by our global payroll score. Working in Netherlands: 11 (2 by their global payroll coverage list, the rest inferred from their EOR coverage). How we score
Enterprise teams and small and growing businesses (SMEs), in RemotePass's own words
Not for
Buyers who must review EOR contract terms up front: no EOR agreement is public
Top pro
EOR from $349 per employee a month with tax included; 13 of 20 other EOR prices in dollars start higher
Top con
No EOR agreement is public: the Terms say EOR runs under a separate Consultant Agreement "available on the Site", which we did not find. The public legal documents are the Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Acceptable Use Policy
€14.99 an hour for employees aged 21 and older, from 1 July 2026. The law sets no monthly, weekly or daily amount, so a monthly figure depends on the agreed hours.
Is holiday pay mandatory in the Netherlands?
Yes. The employee is owed a holiday allowance (vakantiegeld) of at least 8% of wages. Someone earning more than three times the minimum wage can agree in writing to a lower allowance or none.
Do employees get public holidays off in the Netherlands?
Not by law. The government lists 11 official public holidays for 2026, but whether an employee has the day off is up to the collective agreement or the employment contract.
What salary does a highly skilled migrant need in the Netherlands?
In 2026 the criterion is EUR 5,942 gross a month from age 30 and EUR 4,357 under 30, or EUR 3,122 under the reduced criterion. Only an employer the IND recognises as a sponsor can apply for the permit.
Own entity — company register
