The position of self-employed workers has once again been the focus of political discussion. This time, it featured on the agenda for the 3 April 2025 meeting of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs and Employment and the Standing Committee on Finance. During this debate, the Committees also discussed a letter submitted to the Dutch House of Representatives in which the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment announced plans to amend the Assessment of Employment Relationships and Legal Presumption (Clarification) Bill (wetsvoorstel 'Verduidelijking beoordeling arbeidsrelaties en rechtsvermoeden', the VBAR Bill). The amendment aims to incorporate answers given by the Supreme Court to questions referred for a preliminary ruling in the Uber case of 21 February 2025. In addition, the political parties VVD, D66, CDA and SGP published a draft Explanatory Memorandum on the private member's Self-Employed Workers Bill (initiatiefwetsvoorstel Zelfstandigenwet) (in Dutch) on 3 April 2025, which aims to provide greater clarity for self-employed workers as well as their clients.

The VBAR Bill

Original VBAR Bill

The VBAR Bill aims to clarify when a worker must be considered either self-employed or an employee. The current bill, as submitted to the Council of State's Advisory Division, is designed to align with existing case law on employment relationships, including the Deliveroo judgment (in Dutch). 

The VBAR Bill specifies various indications of work-related and organisational instructions, which suggest an employment agreement. Conversely, indications of work being performed for the worker's own account and risk suggest self-employment. Only if an assessment of the criteria under these two main elements does not yield a decisive conclusion on the employment relationship can a worker's entrepreneurship outside the specific employment relationship ('external entrepreneurship') be considered. Characteristics of external entrepreneurship include VAT payments, investments made in the worker's own business, and time and money spent on client acquisition.

In addition, the government introduces a legal presumption of an employer-employee relationship, based on an hourly rate.

Supreme Court judgment in Uber

On 21 February 2025, the Supreme Court gave a preliminary ruling (in Dutch) in the Uber case. The court ruled that no order of priority applies to the circumstances to be considered in the assessment of whether an employment agreement exists, including external entrepreneurship. This means that, to determine how exactly the relationship should be construed, external entrepreneurship should be holistically considered together with the other perspectives from the Deliveroo judgment and any other relevant facts and circumstances of the case.

Amended VBAR Bill

As the Supreme Court's answers to the preliminary questions in Uber are inconsistent with the VBAR Bill's current assessment method for external entrepreneurship, the Minister will amend the bill to reflect the answers given. This will elevate external entrepreneurship to a perspective worthy of full consideration in the assessment of the employment relationship, instead of a last resort if the indications do not provide a conclusive answer on the employment relationship's qualification.

The Minister has indicated that he will submit the amended bill to the Dutch House of Representatives before the summer, mentioning 1 January 2026 as the proposed date of entry into force.

Private member's Self-Employed Workers Bill

The initiators say that, in discussions with self-employed workers, the latter frequently request that self-employed status be taken as the starting point for qualification of the employment relationship.

This prompted the initiators to draft this private member's bill, which lays down three assessments to answer the question of when a person is to be considered self-employed. 

1. Self-employed worker assessment

Does the person engaging in the working relationship qualify as a self-employed worker? This assessment looks at whether the person presents themselves to the outside world as a self-employed worker. It is up to the self-employed worker to substantiate why they meet the criteria of the self-employed worker assessment. Does the person have several clients? Does the person invest in their own business assets? Does the person conduct acquisition activities? And has the person made provision for retirement and medical incapacity for work?

2. Working relationship assessment

Does the working relationship involve any dominant elements hampering the worker's ability to engage in the working relationship as a self-employed worker? This is assessed on the basis of four equal criteria:

1) What are the parties' wishes and intentions? 
2) Does the person have a large degree of freedom regarding the execution of the work? 
3) Does the person have a large degree of freedom regarding working hours and leave? 
4) Is there any hierarchical control? 

3. Sector-specific legal presumption

For sectors involving an increased risk of pseudo self-employment, such as education, healthcare, construction, agriculture and horticulture, additional rules or a legal presumption of an employer-employee relationship may apply, tailored to the sector in question. This makes it possible to use the overall assessment for the entire job market while leaving scope to tackle sector-specific problems. 

In addition, the bill introduces a Review Committee for the Self-Employed Workers Act Assessment Framework (Commissie Beoordeling Toetsingskader Zelfstandigenwet), which can clarify the qualification of a particular working relationship for self-employed workers, clients and supervisors. The Committee's opinions will be binding on enforcement agencies, such as the Tax Administration and Employee Insurance Agency UWV. The Committee's decisions will make it easier for employment lawyers to advise parties on a fitting working relationship.

When asked at the committee debate how their private member's bill relates to the VBAR Bill, the initiators replied that they see their bill as an alternative to the 'employment relationship' part of the VBAR Bill. 

The civil-law 'legal presumption' part of the VBAR Bill does not feature in the private member's bill, but the initiators do support this element.

The Minister of Social Affairs indicated during the committee debate that, while he appreciates the initiative, he doubts whether this approach will actually bring about more clarity (or will do so more quickly). He believes that he will be able to provide this clarity in the amended VBAR Bill and he will continue the course he has charted in that regard.

The preconsultation phase for the private member's bill started on 3 April 2025. The initiators published the draft Explanatory Memorandum so that all input from the field can be incorporated into the bill's further development. After that, the bill will be presented to the Council of State and subsequently to the Dutch House of Representatives.

We will keep you up to date on any further developments.