Hiring in Netherlands through an EOR (2026)

The single rule that changes how you plan every hire in the Netherlands is the country's permanent employment protection framework. Once someone is on your payroll, ending that relationship follows a structured legal process with mandatory notice and statutory severance, so your day-to-day HR decisions need to account for that weight from the very first contract. An Employer of Record (EOR) handles all of that locally, keeping you compliant without needing a Dutch legal entity of your own.

The numbers that matter most: employer social contributions run at 12.6% of gross salary, the statutory minimum wage sits at EUR 2,295 per month in 2026, and employees are entitled to 20 days of paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays. The average annual wage is around EUR 75,370, so you are hiring into a high-productivity, high-wage market where the total cost per employee is meaningfully above the gross figure on the contract.

On top of every gross salary you pay in the Netherlands, you carry an employer social security contribution of 12.6% of gross. That is the primary driver pushing your actual employment cost above the number on the contract. Employees also contribute 10% of gross on their side, which affects net pay expectations but does not change your direct outlay. There is no mandatory 13th-month salary in the Netherlands, so your annual cost is more predictable than in markets where that obligation applies.

A few things deserve close attention before you hire your first Dutch employee.

• Notice periods run long. The statutory notice period averages 8.7 weeks, which means you need to plan workforce changes well in advance and budget for that window when offboarding.
• Severance is a real line item. Statutory severance averages 7.2 weeks of pay, so factor that into your total cost of employment from the start, not just when things go wrong.
• Collective bargaining reaches most workers. Collective bargaining agreement coverage sits at 72.1%, meaning the sector CBA, not just the statutory floor, often sets the actual pay and conditions for your hire. Always check which CBA applies to your employee's role.
• Parental leave adds scheduling complexity. Employees have a right to 9 weeks of parental leave on top of 16 weeks of maternity leave, so workforce planning needs to account for extended absences that are fully protected by law.