Dutch government to change the Minimum Wage Act

Posted on 9th January, 2014
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Estimated reading time 3 minutes

The Dutch Government has announced plans to change the Minimum Wage Act during 2015 to bring it in line with the current employment market.

What’s changing?

The planned changes address four key areas:

  • The scope of the Act and whether it will be extended to include self-employed workers;
  • Enforcement of the Act to ensure there are clear terms for enforcement by the public authorities;
  • Calculation of the minimum wage to include a minimum hourly rate, in addition to the current daily, weekly or monthly rates; and
  • New criteria for how pay is calculated for minimum wage purposes.

Commentary

The planned changes aim to align the Act with today’s growing workforce of temporary, part-time and self-employed workers, whilst continuing to provide a minimum level of financial protection for all employees.  Further information will be published next year.

Resources

Letter from the Netherlands Minister of Social Affairs and Employment dated 2 September 2014 (in Dutch language)

For further information or to discuss any of the issues raised, please contact Edith Franssen on +31 20 578 54 52 at Loyens & Loeff, Amsterdam – www.loyensloeff.com.

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