Hire a self-employed professional

Working with a self-employed professional

You can hire a self-employed professional for a specific assignment or project. In Dutch, this role is often referred to as zzp’er (zelfstandige zonder personeel), A self-employed professional schedules their own hours, work, and holidays. They can do assignments for other clients at the same time. You do not supervise the self-employed professional like you would with your own staff. You agree on general terms and conditions and purchasing conditions together. For example, the hourly rate and the number of hours needed for the assignment.

Types of hiring

You can hire a self-employed professional in 3 ways:

• Directly: you hire a self-employed professional without the intervention of another party. Make sure to check whether a model agreement is available.
• Intermediary: this can be a temping or employment agency. They hire a self-employed professional and hire them out to you. The self-employed professional invoices the intermediary.
• Payroll company: with payrolling, the self-employed professional is on the payroll of the payroll agency. This agency takes care of the entire administration for you.

Check if there is salaried employment

There are rules for hiring self-employed professionals (Wet DBA). For example, you must make certain that there is no salaried employment. If you give an assignment to a self-employed professional and it meets the conditions of salaried employment, this is called false self-employment. You are then actually an employer, but are not paying the taxes associated with salaried employment. You must prevent false self-employment. If it turns out there is employment, you must pay wage tax and social security contributions.

Web Module Assessment Employment Relationship

Do you want to know if you can have an assignment carried out by a zzp'er? You can assess this with the online questionnaire Web Module Employment Relationship Assessment. The web module is an anonymous online questionnaire that helps you answer the question of whether or not you should offer an employment contract. Read more about how to use the module or start the questionnaire (in Dutch).

Model agreements

Another option is to use a model agreement from the Netherlands Tax Administration. You and your contractor record your working relationship in such a model agreement. This prevents false self-employment. A model agreement is a document approved by the Tax Administration. It contains agreements that clarify the working relationship between a self-employed professional and a client. Are you unsure whether you need a standard model agreement from the Tax Administration? Then use this guide (in Dutch). Model agreements expire after 5 years.

Checks by the Tax Administration

Because the conditions of the Employment Relationships Deregulation Act (Wet DBA) may be applied incorrectly, the Tax Administration checks for cases of false self-employment between clients and self-employed persons. Is the working relationship not correct? Then you usually receive a warning first so you can change it. Since 2023, the Tax Administration has been working on improved enforcement of employment relationships.

Read more about these checks on the Tax Administration's website (in Dutch).

Working conditions

A zzp’er is entitled to the same working conditions as your employees. This means that when they carry out the work within your office, you must ensure a healthy and safe workplace. If you fail to do so, you run the risk of complaints and an inspection by the Netherlands Labour Authority.

Hiring a foreign self-employed professional

If you are looking for a self-employed professional abroad, you are obliged to recruit in the EU or EEA first. If you cannot find anyone here, you can look outside this area.