Payroll for Posted Workers in the Netherlands

By Robert Jeffrey, Holdwise B.V., Hoofddorp. Checked against the official sources on 13 November 2026.

What posting is

Posting means that your company sends its own employees to the Netherlands for a limited time. They do the work of a contract between your company and a client here, and they stay employed by your company.

The Dutch act on the terms of employment of posted workers in the European Union (WagwEU) applies to employers from the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland. It gives the employer four duties and gives the employees the main Dutch terms of employment.

Three questions come with every project.

Which notification and which documents does the Netherlands Labour Authority ask for?
In which country are the employees socially insured?
Which country taxes the wage, and does your company need a Dutch payroll?

The notification duty and where to file it

Your company files the notification in the Dutch online notification portal for posted workers, at postedworkers.nl. It files before the work starts and reports later changes there too (postedworkers.nl, October 2026).

Duty of the employer	What it means
Notify	The notification states the employer, the employees, the client, the place of work, the kind of work and the period.
Name a contact person	A person who is in the Netherlands during the posting and can send and receive documents. One of the posted workers can take this role, for example the foreman on site.
Keep documents at the workplace	Employment contracts, payslips, overviews of working hours, A1 certificates and proof of wage payment. On paper or digital, in Dutch, English, German or French.
Give information	The Netherlands Labour Authority can ask for information and documents. Your company keeps the documents for five years after the work ends.

Your Dutch client checks the notification in the portal. The client has until five working days after the start of the work.

Some short activities are exempt, such as the first installation of delivered goods and urgent repairs. Employees with a nationality from outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland are always notified. Our team checks which rule applies to your project.

The Netherlands Labour Authority can fine an employer and a client. The standard fine for a missing notification starts at €1,500 and is €4,500 for twenty or more workers. For missing documents at the workplace it is €8,000 (postedworkers.nl, June 2025).

Social security and the A1 certificate

A posted worker can stay in the social security system of the home country. The proof is a certificate of coverage from the social security authority there (A1 certificate). Your company asks for it before the posting starts.

The longest period on the certificate is 24 months. A longer posting needs an extension that both countries agree to, or the employee joins the Dutch system (Your Europe, checked 30 September 2026).

With an A1 certificate the employee pays social security at home only. An employee who works here outside an A1 certificate is insured in the Netherlands, and your company then pays the Dutch contributions through a Dutch payroll (business.gov.nl).

When Dutch wage tax applies

The EU has a common rule for social security and leaves the tax on wages to the tax treaties between countries (Your Europe, checked 29 September 2026). Most treaties let the country of work tax the wage earned there.

The home country keeps the right to tax when three conditions are all met (Belastingdienst, December 2025).

The employee is in the Netherlands for 183 days or fewer in the period that the treaty names.
The employer that pays the wage is established outside the Netherlands.
The wage is borne by the employer abroad, outside any permanent establishment in the Netherlands.

The period is a calendar year, a tax year or twelve months in a row, depending on the treaty. Every day in the Netherlands counts, also weekends and days off.

Two situations change the outcome.

A long project. Under Dutch law a building site or a construction or installation project is a permanent establishment when it lasts longer than twelve months. Where a tax treaty applies, the definition in that treaty counts. With a permanent establishment your company withholds Dutch wage tax.
Work under the direction of the client. A company from abroad that makes workers available to a client in the Netherlands is a withholding agent for Dutch wage tax. The tax office can treat the Dutch client as the employer in substance, and the Netherlands may then tax from the first working day.

The tax adviser from our network checks each project. The adviser reads the treaty with your country, the contract with the client and the planning, and writes down which country taxes the wage of each employee.

Dutch payroll where wage tax is due here

Where the Netherlands taxes the wage, your company registers with the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) as an employer from abroad. It receives a payroll tax number and files a payroll return for each period.

Outside a permanent establishment, your company can choose to register as a withholding agent. The employees then receive a Dutch payslip, and the wage tax is settled in each period.

Each employee needs a citizen service number (BSN) for the payroll. A project team in the Netherlands covers the registration of the employees and the practical start.

A Dutch client can be held liable when a contractor leaves payroll taxes unpaid. A client may therefore ask for a blocked account for payroll taxes (G-account) (business.gov.nl).

An accounting firm from our network prepares the payslips and files the returns. Non-resident employer in the Netherlands sets out the registration step by step.

Want our team to have a look?

The core employment conditions in the Netherlands

During the first twelve months a posted worker has a right to the core Dutch terms of employment (postedworkers.nl, October 2025).

The statutory minimum wage, which is €14.99 gross per hour from 1 July 2026 for employees aged 21 and older (Rijksoverheid).
The rules on working hours and rest.
Safe working conditions.
A minimum number of paid holiday days.
Equal treatment of men and women.

In a sector with a collective labour agreement that is declared binding for the whole sector, the main terms of that agreement apply too. That includes the wage scales and the allowances.

After twelve months almost all Dutch terms of employment apply. The exceptions are the supplementary pension and the rules on starting and ending the employment contract. The employer can extend the first period once by six months through the notification portal.

The payslip shows which part is wage and which part is an allowance for travel, meals or lodging. Allowances for real costs come on top of the wage that the Dutch rules ask for.

Doing a contract or making workers available

The Dutch rules draw a line between two kinds of work.

	Doing your own contract	Making workers available
Who directs the work	Your company. The client decides what is made, and your foreman decides how.	The client. Your employees work under the direction and supervision of the client.
Admission under the Dutch act on lending workers (Wtta)	Outside the admission duty	An admission, an exemption or a place in the transitional scheme from 1 January 2027, also for a company from abroad
Dutch wage tax	The treaty rule with the three conditions	Your company is a withholding agent in the Netherlands

The facts on the work floor decide, and the name of the contract comes second. The test is who directs and supervises the workers.

Lenders register for the transitional scheme between 1 November and 31 December 2026. The Netherlands Labour Authority enforces the admission duty from 1 January 2028 (Netherlands Authority for the Lending Market, November 2026). The Wtta for lending staff in the Netherlands has the dates and the conditions.

Ask the tax adviser to read your contract with the client against these rules before the project starts.

What your company has ready

The contract with the Dutch client, with the place of work, the start date and the planning.
A description of who directs the work on site.
A list of the employees, with nationality, date of birth and the dates each of them is in the Netherlands.
The A1 certificate of each employee, or the date of the request.
The employment contracts and the recent payslips.
The name of the contact person in the Netherlands during the project.
Earlier projects of your company in the Netherlands in the last twelve months.

Who does what

Work	Who does it
Employing the workers, directing the work, paying the wage and asking for the A1 certificates at home	Your company, as the employer
The intake, the notification with you and the registration with the Dutch tax office where it is needed	Our team
The country that taxes the wage, the permanent establishment question and the line between a contract and lending	A tax adviser from our network
The Dutch payslips and the payroll return for each period, where Dutch wage tax is due	An accounting firm from our network
The check of the notification	Your Dutch client

You see the scope and the fee in your proposal before we start.

Intake. You send the project details, the contract with the client and the list of employees.
Check. The tax adviser checks the tax position of the project and of each employee.
Proposal. You receive the scope and the fee, and you decide.
Before the start. Your company files the notification with our help, names the contact person and has the documents ready for the workplace.
During the project. Where Dutch wage tax is due, the accounting firm files the payroll return for each period. Changes in the team go into the notification.

Other payroll situations

Each situation has its own page.

Dutch payroll for foreign employers

The overview of the five situations, what Dutch payroll includes and how our team works.

Non-resident employer

Your company abroad employs someone who lives and works in the Netherlands, and is the employer itself.

Shadow payroll

The employee stays on the payroll at home, and a Dutch payroll next to it settles the Dutch wage tax.

From an Employer of Record to your own payroll

Your company takes over the employment contract from the Employer of Record and becomes the employer itself.

Sources

Last reviewed on 13 November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need Dutch payroll for seconded employees on a project in the Netherlands?

That depends on which country taxes the wage. The home country keeps the right to tax when three conditions are met. The employee is here for 183 days or fewer, your company is established abroad, and the wage is borne outside any permanent establishment here. Where the Netherlands taxes the wage, your company registers with the Dutch tax office and files a Dutch payroll return. A tax adviser from our network checks each project.

Where do we file the notification for posted workers in the Netherlands?

In the Dutch online notification portal at postedworkers.nl, before the work starts. The notification states the employer, the employees, the client, the place of work, the kind of work and the period. Your Dutch client checks it in the portal, until five working days after the start.

How long can posted workers stay insured in their home country?

With an A1 certificate from the social security authority at home, for 24 months at most. A longer posting needs an extension that both countries agree to. Otherwise the employee joins the Dutch social security system.

When does the Netherlands tax the wage of a posted worker?

Most tax treaties let the country of work tax the wage. The home country keeps that right when three conditions are met. The employee is here for 183 days or fewer in the treaty period, the employer is established abroad, and the wage is borne outside any permanent establishment here. A building or installation project of more than twelve months is a permanent establishment under Dutch law.

Which Dutch employment conditions apply to posted workers?

In the first twelve months the core terms apply. These are the statutory minimum wage, the rules on working hours and rest, safe working conditions, paid holiday days and equal treatment. The main terms of a sector agreement that is declared binding apply too. After twelve months almost all Dutch terms apply.

What is the difference between doing a contract and making workers available?

A contractor that does its own contract directs its own team, and the client decides what is made. A lender makes workers available for payment, and they work under the direction and supervision of the client. From 1 January 2027 a lender needs an admission under the Dutch act on lending workers. The facts on the work floor decide.

Our project in the Netherlands lasts ten months. Do we need a Dutch payroll?

Under Dutch law a building or installation project is a permanent establishment after twelve months, and a tax treaty can set its own term. An employee who is in the Netherlands for more than 183 days in the treaty period owes Dutch tax on the wage for the work here. Your company can then register as a withholding agent and settle that tax through a Dutch payroll. The tax adviser from our network checks this for each employee.

Our Dutch client asks for a G-account. What is that?

A G-account is a blocked bank account that your company uses only to pay payroll taxes and VAT to the Dutch tax office. The client pays the estimated payroll taxes on your invoice into it, which limits the liability of the client for those taxes. Your company applies at the Dutch tax office once it has a payroll tax number or a VAT number. The account is opened at a bank where your company has a business account, and our team prepares the application with you.

What does our Dutch client check?

The client checks the notification in the online portal, until five working days after the start of the work. A client can also be held liable for unpaid payroll taxes of a contractor, so a client may ask for a blocked account for payroll taxes.

Who is the employer of the posted workers?

Your company is the employer and stays the employer. It directs the work and pays the wage. Our team helps with the notification and the registration. A tax adviser and an accounting firm from our network do the tax check and the Dutch payroll where it is due.

What does the service cost?

The fee depends on the size of the team, the length of the project and the questions the tax adviser answers. You see the scope and the fee in your proposal before we start.