The new collective Labour agreement (CLA) for temporary agency workers took effect on 1 January 2026. From that date, agency workers are entitled to employment conditions equivalent to those of employees of the hirer in comparable positions. This goes significantly further than the previous hirer’s remuneration rules and aligns with the objectives of the draft bill More Security for Flexible Workers Act (Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers).

The CLA grants agency workers both essential and non‑essential employment conditions from the hirer. Essential conditions include wages, all allowances and working/rest times. Based on European case law, “wages and other allowances” must be interpreted broadly: virtually all benefits in cash or in kind fall under this definition. Examples include compensation for study or training budgets, or access to an on‑site gym. Non‑essential conditions include all other employment conditions; so far, social partners have classified only employer‑paid pension contributions as non‑essential.

The CLA does not require that employment conditions be identical. However, the overall package must be equivalent. Essential employment conditions may only be offset by other essential conditions. Non‑essential conditions may be compensated with essential ones – for example: a lower pension contribution may be compensated for by a higher salary.

Temporary employment agencies must determine remuneration correctly and on time. They depend on the information provided by the hirer regarding the employment conditions applicable within the hirer’s organization. Under the Waadi, the hirer is legally obliged to provide this information fully and accurately.

Temporary employment agencies should, before 1 January 2026, have requested information from their clients about the employment conditions applicable to comparable roles and, based on this, determined and confirmed the equivalent package to the agency worker. Although the responsibility lies with the agency, it is advisable for the hirer to verify that this has been done carefully – because the agency worker can hold the hirer directly liable for correct pay.

There are three ways in which agencies may compose an equivalent package:

  1. Full alignment: all employment conditions of the hirer are followed; where this is not possible, an equivalent alternative arrangement is provided.
  2. Partial alignment: elements such as wages and vacation days are followed; for benefits that are difficult to value in monetary terms, the agency composes its own package.
  3. Own scheme with project allowance: the agency uses its own employment conditions package and supplements it with an allowance when the hirer offers better conditions.

Temporary employment agencies should critically assess their employment conditions package to ensure it is demonstrably equivalent. Hirers should take their information obligations seriously and ensure that the package is correctly determined, as they may be held liable under chain liability rules if it is later found that the correct employment conditions were not applied.

Dutch law also provides a route to the civil judge. If hirers fail to comply with the new rules of the CLA, temporary agency workers can take the case to the civil court. Not following the CLA-rules may be seen as non-performance under the Dutch Civil Code. This means that a contractual obligation is not met or is met incorrectly or too late. If this breach can be attributed to the hirer and causes damage, the hirer can be held liable. There must be a causal link between the non-performance and the damage: the damage must be a direct consequence of the breach. Therefore, it has to be clear what the damage consists of. The court can also order the hirer to comply with the CLA at the request of the temporary agency worker based on the Dutch Civil Code.