A restaurant in Rotterdam is having to suspend its operations for 2 months. The Netherlands Labour Authority is imposing this measure because the restaurant has violated the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act (WML) on a number of occasions. The restaurant had previously violated the Foreign Nationals (Employment) Act (Wav) as well and is required to suspend operations as of today.
The restaurant will not be open while the measure is in force, meaning that any takeaway service will also be unavailable. Neither will other businesses be permitted to perform activities on the closed restaurant's behalf. The Netherlands Labour Authority intends to make sure that the employer complies with the suspension, because ignoring it is a criminal offence.
Fines and warnings
In 2024, the Netherlands Labour Authority discovered that the restaurant had employed someone who did not have the required work permit and that employees were being underpaid. This resulted in the restaurant being fined more than 33,000 euros in 2025. The employer was also issued with a warning about a preventative suspension of operations and an order to pay the employees their outstanding wages, or face a penalty.
Follow-up inspection
A follow-up inspection revealed that the employer had still not made the mandatory back payments to the affected employees. Once again, the labour inspectors also discovered that employees were being paid too little for the work they had carried out.
Repeated violations
Despite previous fines, the warning and the order subject to a penalty payment, the employer has therefore failed to resolve the violations. The Netherlands Labour Authority therefore regards the employer as a notorious offender of labour laws. By imposing this temporary suspension, the Authority's intention is to prevent further violations of the WML and the Wav.
Unfair working conditions need to be reported
The Labour Authority is calling on everyone to report unfair, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. Reports and tips are important when it comes to identifying and tackling instances of abuse.
Reports can be submitted using the notification form on the Netherlands Labour Authority website. Additional information on fair working practices can be found at zelfinspectie.nl.