The main forms
- Fixed-term (bepaalde tijd): ends by calendar; the standard first contract. End-of-contract notification duty one month before expiry.
- Permanent (onbepaalde tijd): the destination form — full dismissal protection, transition payment on employer-initiated exits.
- On-call (oproep): flexible hours inside strict rules — minimum pay per call and, after twelve months, a mandatory offer of fixed hours.
The chain rule
Fixed-term contracts convert to permanent after three consecutive contracts or three years, whichever comes first — the sequencing every Dutch employer plans around. The common pattern: 7 + 8 + 12 months, then the permanent decision at full information.
The clauses that matter
Probation (one month on contracts of six months to two years, two on permanent), notice periods, and non-compete — which in fixed-term contracts requires a written motivation to stand. The costs each form carries: beyond gross salary; the hiring sequence: the first-employee guide.
What sits above the contract
Where a collective labour agreement applies, its terms override contract terms that are less favourable to the employee — including salary scales, leave and wage continuation during illness. Checking the position before drafting saves rewriting afterwards.
Two rules that shape the choice
The chain rule converts a succession of fixed-term contracts into a permanent one after three contracts or three years, and the probation rules make a clause exceeding the maximum void in its entirety. Both belong in the drafting rather than in the review afterwards.
The clause most often copied and least often valid
A non-competition clause carried over from a home-country template regularly fails in the Netherlands, and on a fixed-term contract it is void altogether where a written motivation of the business interest is absent. Non-compete clauses in the Netherlands sets out what survives court scrutiny and which alternatives protect the same interest more reliably.