Employment agencies checklist

Publication | 24-06-2024

Is the employment agency correctly registered with the Chamber of Commerce?

Employment agencies that operate in the Netherlands must be registered in the trade register of the Chamber of Commerce. This registration must also state that they provide workers. As a hirer you are by law obliged to check this.

How you check this

Complete the ‘Waadi check’ (in Dutch) on the website of the Chamber of Commerce. This way, you can check whether the employment agency you are doing business with is registered correctly. Enter the Chamber of Commerce number of the employment agency.

2 tips:

• Save an image or make a print of the page on which the registration is stated. Preferably before you give the employment agency an assignment. Make sure you can show this page during an inspection by the Netherlands Labour Authority.
• Check whether the Chamber of Commerce number on the employment agency’s quotation and invoice match.

Why you check this

Is the employment agency you are doing business with registered incorrectly? This may indicate you are dealing with an unreliable employment agency. If you use an employment agency that is not registered, you risk a fine from the Netherlands Labour Authority. So check this carefully.

Is the employment agency certified by the Labour Standards Foundation?

Does your employment agency have the quality mark of the Labour Standards Foundation (SNA)? If it does, you limit the risk of being held liable for unpaid payroll taxes and VAT. In addition, some collective agreements require you to do business with employment agencies that are SNA certified. Therefore, check your collective agreement on this aspect.

How you check this

Check if your employment agency is SNA certified at normeringarbeid.nl (in Dutch).

Certification by the SNA

The SNA assesses Dutch employment agencies according to the NEN 4400-1 standard, and foreign employment agencies according to the NEN 4400-2 standard. Inspection bodies check, among other things, whether employment agencies comply with the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act and the duty to provide proof of identity, whether they invoice correctly and whether they pay sufficient payroll taxes and/or VAT.

Are you doing business with an SNA-certified employment agency? In that case, you will not be held liable if the employment agency does not pay sufficient payroll taxes and VAT. You must, however, transfer part of the invoice amount to a blocked account. You must also meet all other conditions of the exculpation regulation. You can read more about it in section 6.3 of the leaflet about liability for payroll taxes and VAT when hiring personnel of the Tax and Customs Administration (in Dutch).

Is the employment agency a member of a trade association?

Trade associations in the employment agency sector are committed to good working conditions. They set quality requirements for their members, check whether they comply with the collective agreement, and help them to promote expertise. Membership of a trade association is therefore an indication that you are doing business with a reliable employment agency.

How you check this

Check abu.nl and nbbu.nl (in Dutch). These trade associations have published an overview of their members on their website.

Does the employment agency pay the agency workers enough?

An employment agency may determine for itself which hourly rate it charges. However, it must pay the agency workers enough, which is, at least, the statutory minimum wage (in Dutch). In addition, agency workers must receive the same remuneration as employees who are employed by you and do the same work. This is stipulated in the collective agreement for agency workers. If agency workers are paid too little, they can also hold you liable for this.

How you check this

The employment agency must pay the agency worker enough. But to do that, it needs to know what kind of remuneration you pay your employees. Passing on that information is your responsibility. Make sure you inform the employment agency about the following arrangements for employees in your company:

• the gross wage;
• ATV or ADV;
• allowances for overtime and/or irregular hours;
• pay increases;
• expense allowances;
• increments;
• reimbursement for travel expenses;
• one-off payment;
• working from home allowance;
• year-end bonus.

Make sure you record this in writing so you can prove what you have passed on. Also include these arrangements in the hourly rate you agree on with the employment agency. Furthermore, ask the employment agency for a written guarantee that the agency workers will receive the remuneration they are entitled to.

The SNCU can help!

The SNCU (Foundation for Compliance with the Collective Agreements for Agency Workers) provides information about the collective agreement for agency workers and monitors compliance with the collective agreement. The SNCU website  (in Dutch) rovides more information. If you have any questions about the collective agreement, please contact the SNCU help desk.

Does the employment agency invoice correctly?

Invoices must meet a number of legal requirements. Unclear and incorrect invoices may indicate that the employment agency is not adhering to the administrative rules.

How you check this

An invoice must include the Chamber of Commerce number, the VAT number and a full address. But there are more requirements. You can find them on the website of the Tax and Customs Administration.

Does the employment agency have a g-account?

A g-account is a blocked bank account. The employment agency can only use the balance on the g-account to pay payroll taxes and VAT to the Tax and Customs Administration. Payment into the employment agency’s g-account can, under certain conditions, exempt you from full or partial liability for the payroll taxes and VAT owed by the employment agency.

How you check this

Ask the employment agency if it has a g-account. You can recognise a g-account by the first two numbers of the bank account number: 99. In an IBAN, these are the 10th and 11th characters.

G-account and SNA-certified employment agency

Are you doing business with an SNA-certified employment agency and use this agency’s g-account? In that case, you can avoid full liability if the employment agency does not pay payroll taxes or VAT.

Here’s how to do it right:

• Pay 25% of the invoice amount (including VAT) into the employment agency’s g-account. If the VAT is reverse-charged and you pay the VAT instead of the employment agency, you must pay 20% of the invoice amount.
• Make sure you also meet the other conditions of the exculpation regulation. You can read more about it in section 6.3 of the leaflet about liability for payroll taxes and VAT when hiring personnel of the Tax and Customs Administration.

Are you doing business with an employment agency that is not SNA certified? In that case, you are not fully exculpated from liability. However, you can mitigate your liability by paying into the employment agency’s g-account. Additional conditions apply in this case too. You can read more about it in section 6.3 of the leaflet about liability for payroll taxes and VAT when hiring personnel of the Tax and Customs Administration (in Dutch).

Have you checked the identities of your agency workers?

It is important to know who you employ. You are therefore obliged to check the identities of agency workers before they start working for you. This is important to prevent fraud, such as tax fraud and identity fraud. And to prevent illegal employment. If you fail to check the identities of agency workers regularly, you risk a fine.

How you check this

All agency workers must always carry original proof of identity with them when working for you. You can check the identity of an agency worker as follows:

• Ask the agency worker for valid, original proof of ID. In other words: no copy and no driving licences.
• Ask the agency worker to put his or her signature on paper. Compare this with the signature on the proof of ID.

Detailed instructions can be found in the Netherlands Labour Authority’s step-by-step plan on an employer’s obligation to verify an employee’s identity (in Dutch).

How do I store the data of agency workers?

Agency workers from the European Economic Area or Switzerland

Does the agency worker have the nationality of the Netherlands, another EEA country or Switzerland? In that case, you are not permitted to make a copy of the proof of ID. You register the agency worker by copying the following information from the ID (no driving licence) into your records: 

• name, address and place of residence of the agency worker;
• date of birth;
• citizen service number;
• nationality;
• type of proof of ID, number and period of validity;
• if applicable: the presence of an A1 certificate, residence permit, a work permit for persons from outside the European Economic Area or notification, including number and period of validity;
• name, address and place of business of the employment agency;
• a specification of the hours worked.

Agency workers from outside the European Economic Area or Switzerland 

Does the agency worker not have the nationality of an EEA country or Switzerland? Ask the employment agency for a copy of the agency worker’s proof of ID (passport or ID card - no driving licence). Check whether the copy indeed matches the identity of the agency worker. Keep the copy in your records for five years after the end of the year in which the agency worker leaves employment. Otherwise, you risk a fine.

Have you checked whether the agency worker is working legally in the Netherlands?

If you hire agency workers, you must check whether they are permitted to work in the Netherlands - possibly with a work permit. If their permit is not in order, you risk a fine from the Netherlands Labour Authority.

How you check this

Agency workers are free to work in the Netherlands in the following cases: 

• They have the nationality of an EEA country or Switzerland.
• They have the nationality of a country outside the EEA or Switzerland, and:
• a passport with an official sticker stating ‘Work permitted: work permit for persons from outside the European Economic Area not required’, or:
• a residence permit with Additional document which states that work is permitted (a ‘Combined work and residence permit’).

In all other cases, the employment agency must have a work permit for persons from outside the European Economic Area (TWV) from the UWV. The employment agency applies for such a permit in the name of the foreign employee. This means that he/she may then perform the work in your company that is stated on the work permit. Ask the employment agency for a copy of this permit and keep it in your records, together with the agency worker’s proof of ID. This is mandatory under the Foreign Nationals (Employment) Act (Article 15, paragraph 2 and paragraph 4). More information can be found in the Netherlands Labour Authority’s step-by-step plan on an employer’s obligation to verify an employee’s identity (in Dutch),

If no valid permit is held, you, as a hirer, also risk a fine. If the employment agency has not applied for the permit, you must do this at the UWV or the IND A foreign employee may only start working once you or the employee have received the work permit. You can read more about work permits on the UWV website (in Dutch).

Payment of social security contributions: yes or no?

Do you hire foreign workers through an employment agency or (sub)contractor? In that case, these workers may already be paying social security contributions abroad. If that is the case, ask the supplier or the foreign employee for an A1 certificate. He applies for this from the social security organisation in his country. With the A1 certificate, the employment agency can demonstrate that it does not have to pay contributions for this employee in the Netherlands. Without an A1 certificate, you must pay those premiums.

Do you provide a healthy and safe workplace for agency workers?

If you hire agency workers, you must work with the employment agency to ensure they can work in a healthy and safe environment. If an agency worker has an accident at work, you, the client, are responsible.

How to arrange this

To find out how to offer your employees - including agency workers - a healthy and safe working environment, visit zelfinspectie.nl. On this site, you check whether you are aware of the occupational risks within your company and whether you are taking the correct measures. More information can also be found on the website of Stichting Doorzaam (in Dutch).

The Working Hours Act: your responsibility

If you hire agency workers, you, not the employment agency, are responsible for complying with the Working Hours Act (in Dutch). You must ensure that agency workers do not work longer than permitted. Therefore, make sure you keep good time records. More about the rules for agency workers can be found on the website of the Netherlands Labour Authority (in Dutch).