Low hourly rate for a self-employed person can lead to employment contract

For whom?

• clients who work with self-employed professionals
• self-employed professionals

What changes?

Do you work with self-employed professionals or freelancers? The rules for assessing an employment agreement will change. If the hourly rate is no more than €36, a legal presumption of an employment agreement will apply. This means the self-employed person will sooner be considered an employee. This way the government aims to counter false self-employment and protect lower paid self-employed professionals.

The main changes are:

• Does a self-employed person earn at most €36 per hour? Then they may rely on the legal presumption of an employment agreement.
• If a self-employed person invokes the legal presumption, you must prove that there is no employment agreement.
• Are you unable to prove that the self-employed person is in fact self-employed? Then they can claim the rights associated with an employment agreement, such as continued pay in the event of illness and protection against dismissal.

When?

The Upper House has passed the bill on 16 June 2026. The date of entry into force is not yet known. The Act will take effect at a later date.