Meat industry no longer allowed to employ agency workers

For whom?

• entrepreneurs in the meat industry
• business that supply workers to the meat industry

What changes?

Do you hire agency workers for jobs within the meat supply chain? You will be faced with new rules. There will be a ban on hiring and supplying workers in the meat industry.

The ban applies to, for example:

• slaughterhouses
• cold stores
• meat-processing plants

The Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, NLA) monitors whether companies keep to the ban on temporary agency employment.

This ban does not apply to work that is not directly related to the production or processing of meat. For example, sales and administration. But you will no longer be allowed to hire temporary agency workers for jobs involving the slaughter, processing, chilling, and packaging of meat.

Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are not covered by the ban. Unless the company is part of a group in which a total of 20 or more employees work. Both the business’s own employees and agency workers count towards the total.

When?

The ban on hiring and supplying workers in the meat supply chain will take effect on 1 March 2028. For workers already employed through a temporary agency arrangement, a transitional period applies until 1 June 2028. From 1 June 2028, the ban will apply in full.