In the Netherlands, there are permanent and temporary contracts. A permanent contract is for an indefinite period and a temporary contract is for an agreed period. If you have had 3 consecutive temporary or stand-by contracts, you are then in permanent employment. You also receive a permanent contract if you have had several temporary contracts for a period of more than 3 years.
In addition, there are 3 types of stand-by contracts: a stand-by contract with a preliminary agreement, a zero-hour contract and a min-max contract. After 6 months, you are usually entitled to a contract for the average number of hours per week that you have worked in those 6 months. You have to request this contract yourself, so make sure you do so!
After one year, an employer is obliged to offer you a contract with a fixed number of hours. That must be done if your contract is extended or your employer offers you a new contract after one year. You may also choose to continue working under an on-call contract. That is your own choice; your employer cannot force you to accept this.
Finally, there is also the temporary employment contract, which may only be given by employment agencies. The period of zero-hour and on-call contracts may in that case be 52 weeks. After these 52 weeks, you can have six more contracts in four years. As of 3 January 2022, this is six contracts in three years.
Want to know more? Feel free to contact SNCU-helpdesk:
Telephone:
- 0800-7008 (free)
- 0031 85210 40 80 (international)
E-mail: helpdesk@sncu.nl