Running a staffing agency in the Netherlands from outside the EU
Your agency is based outside the EU and a Dutch client wants your workers. Today, workers may be supplied in the Netherlands only through an undertaking listed in the Dutch trade register for that activity, and each of them is entitled to at least the pay of the client's own staff in the same or an equivalent job. From 1 January 2027 the Wtta adds an admission scheme with a deposit, a certificate of conduct and periodic checks, and its transitional registration window is already open.
What a non-EU staffing agency faces in the Netherlands
Eight obligations, who carries them and when they apply.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade register entry | Workers may be supplied in the Netherlands only through an undertaking registered in the Handelsregister for labour supply | The supplying undertaking, and the client, which may not use workers supplied in breach | Before any supply; wording in force since 1 July 2026 | Waadi art. 7a |
| Equal treatment | At least the pay, working-time, leave and holiday terms of the client's staff in the same or an equivalent job, payrolling excluded | The agency, using the client's terms | Each placement | Waadi art. 8 |
| Terms from the client | The client sends the article 8 terms to the agency in writing or electronically | The client | Before the placement starts | Waadi art. 12a |
| Strike ban | No supply to a business, or part of one, that is on strike, under lock-out or occupied | The agency | While the strike, lock-out or occupation lasts | Waadi art. 10 |
| Housing | Only with an approved social landlord or a landlord certified to the standards of the collective agreement | The agency, if it houses the worker | Whenever housing is provided | Waadi art. 12b |
| Notification and records | The agency tells the client the worker is supplied and records it; the client records the worker | Agency and client | Before the start (agency), by the first day (client); kept 7 years | Waadi art. 12c and 12d |
| Wtta admission | Admission with a VOG, a deposit and periodic checks; clients may only use admitted agencies | Labour suppliers and their clients | Registration 1 November to 31 December 2026; applications 1 May to 30 June 2027; enforcement from 1 January 2028 | Wtta site, Eerste Kamer |
| Posting notification | Posted workers are notified to the Dutch authorities | The employer based abroad | Through the online meldloket | WagwEU, postedworkers.nl |
The rest of this page takes each line in turn. Waadi references are to the version in force since 1 July 2026, as read on 6 November 2026.
The trade register rule in force today
Before any new admission scheme, the Waadi already limits who may supply workers.
The Waadi is the Dutch act on labour supply by intermediaries. Its article 7a bans the supply of workers in the Netherlands unless it goes through an undertaking registered in the Handelsregister, the Dutch trade register, with the supply of workers as a registered activity. The ban works in both directions: a client (inlener) may not use workers supplied in breach of this rule. This wording has been in force since 1 July 2026 (Waadi art. 7a).
How Waadi fines are capped
A Waadi fine can reach the amount of the fifth fine category in article 23(4) of the Dutch Criminal Code. We have not recorded the current euro amount of that category (Waadi art. 19).
Increases for a second breach
The fine is increased by 100% for a repeat offence within 5 years, and by 200% when both offences are serious (Waadi art. 19).
Equal treatment, strikes and housing
What every placement in the Netherlands has to respect.
A supplied worker is entitled to at least the terms that apply to employees in the same or an equivalent job at the client. That covers wages and other pay, and the working time, overtime, rest periods, night work, breaks, leave and public holidays set by the client's collective agreement (CAO). Payrolling is excluded from this article (Waadi art. 8).
The client has to send these terms to the agency, in writing or electronically, before the placement starts (Waadi art. 12a). The client's pay grid and collective agreement therefore set the floor for your workers, whatever the pay levels in your home country. Ask for the article 12a terms before you quote a rate.
No supply into a dispute
An agency may not supply workers to a business, or to part of a business, that is on strike, under lock-out or occupied (Waadi art. 10).
Approved landlords only
If the agency provides housing for the worker, it may only use an approved social housing landlord or a landlord certified to the standards of the collective agreement (Waadi art. 12b).
Notification and records already in force
Parts of articles 12c and 12d apply today. Their bans do not yet.
Before the placement starts
The agency tells the client, before the start, that the person is a supplied worker, and records the placement in its own administration (Waadi art. 12c(2) to (5)).
By the first day
The client records the worker no later than the first day the worker is placed with it. The records are kept for 7 years (Waadi art. 12d(2) and (3)).
The first paragraph of each of these two articles holds a ban: the lending ban (uitleenverbod) in article 12c and the hiring ban (inleenverbod) in article 12d, both tied to the admission scheme. In the version of 1 July 2026, both paragraphs are written into the law but marked as not yet in force (Waadi art. 12c(1) and 12d(1)). The notification and record duties already apply, so set them up with the first placement.
The Wtta admission scheme from 2027
A new admission step for labour suppliers, with its dates already fixed.
The Wtta is the Dutch act on admission for labour suppliers (Kamerstuk 36446). The Tweede Kamer passed it on 15 April 2025 and the Eerste Kamer on 11 November 2025. Its commencement decree was published as Stb. 2026, 41, a decree of 24 June 2026. Admission depends on a VOG (certificate of conduct), a deposit (waarborgsom) and periodic checks, and clients may only use admitted agencies (Eerste Kamer, bill 36446).
The official Wtta site sets out the calendar. Registration for the transitional scheme runs from 1 November to 31 December 2026. The Act enters into force on 1 January 2027, and 2027 is a transition year. Applications for admission are filed from 1 May to 30 June 2027. Examination by the NAU and a public register open for consultation follow from 1 July 2027, and the Labour Inspectorate (Arbeidsinspectie) enforces the scheme from 1 January 2028. Registration requires eHerkenning at level 3 and a Berichtenbox (toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl).
The registration window is open now
The transitional registration opened on 1 November 2026 and closes on 31 December 2026. Under the Wtta, Dutch clients may only use admitted agencies, and enforcement starts on 1 January 2028. If you plan Dutch placements in 2027 or later, find out in November or December 2026 whether your agency falls under the scheme and how it registers (Wtta site).
The exemption is not built for agencies
The Waadi text in force since 1 July 2026 already contains the exemption from admission. It can be granted to a business that has paid wages for at least 12 months and whose labour-supply turnover over 12 months is below 10% of its total turnover and no more than EUR 5,000,000 (Waadi art. 12e). A staffing agency earns most of its turnover from supplying workers, so it cannot meet the 10% test.
Posting workers into the Netherlands
A separate notification for employers based abroad.
Under the WagwEU, an employer based abroad notifies the workers it posts to the Netherlands through the online meldloket, reached from postedworkers.nl. That official page does not deal specifically with agencies, so ask the authority how the notification applies to a supply of workers before the first posting (postedworkers.nl).
The EU sets the shared base. Agency workers get at least the terms they would have if the client hired them directly (Dir. 2008/104/EC art. 5). The Services Directive does not apply to temporary work agencies, so each country keeps its own access rules (Dir. 2006/123/EC art. 2(2)(e)). An agency that supplies a worker to a client in another member state is posting that worker, and a company from a non-member state cannot get more favourable treatment than an EU company (Dir. 96/71/EC art. 1(3)(c) and 1(4)). Our guide to staffing agency rules across Europe compares the national regimes.
Steps in the order you meet them
Official dates only. Placement steps count from the start of each placement.
Trade register entry for labour supply
The undertaking that supplies the workers needs its Handelsregister entry with the supply of workers as an activity.
Transitional Wtta registration
Have eHerkenning at level 3 and a Berichtenbox ready for it.
Exchange the terms and notify
The client sends the article 8 terms to the agency. The agency tells the client the worker is supplied and records the placement.
The client records the worker
The records are kept for 7 years.
The Wtta enters into force
2027 is a transition year.
Apply for admission
The NAU examines the applications.
Public register, then enforcement
The public register can be consulted from 1 July 2027. The Labour Inspectorate enforces the scheme from 1 January 2028.
What official sources do not settle yet
We have not read the full text of the Wtta or its implementing decree. The amount of the deposit, the maximum Wtta fine and whether the Wtta covers agencies established outside the Netherlands therefore rest on secondary sources only. The euro amount of the fifth fine category that caps Waadi fines was not recorded either. This page does not cover work permits for non-EU nationals placed in the Netherlands. Confirm each of these points with the authority or a licensed adviser in the Netherlands before you sign with a Dutch client.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact in Riga for the paperwork around your Dutch placements.
Obligation map for the Netherlands
The Waadi duties, the Wtta dates and the posting notification for your placements, in one calendar with your client's duties next to yours.
Dutch filings by a licensed adviser
For the trade register entry, the Wtta registration and the admission file, we bring in a licensed adviser in the Netherlands, who handles the filing.
Client-side checklist
The article 12a terms, the article 12d record and, under the Wtta, proof of your admission: the points to settle with your Dutch client before you sign.
A Latvian SIA when an EU base fits
A Latvian company with its bank account and accounting set-up. It does not replace the Dutch steps above, and an EU agency needs a significant share of its placements with clients in its home country to obtain an A1 for posted workers (CJEU C-784/19).
Placing workers in several countries? Start from our country-by-country staffing comparison. If a European entity makes sense, our page on opening a Latvian subsidiary of a foreign company explains the route.
Questions from non-EU agencies about the Netherlands
Dutch law allows workers to be supplied in the Netherlands only through an undertaking registered in the Dutch trade register with labour supply as its activity, and the client may not use workers supplied in breach of that rule. Secondary sources say the Wtta admission scheme also applies to agencies established outside the Netherlands, but we have not read this in the Act itself, so confirm it with the authority before the first placement.
The Wtta is the Dutch admission scheme for labour suppliers. Transitional registration runs from 1 November to 31 December 2026, the Act enters into force on 1 January 2027, admission applications run from 1 May to 30 June 2027, the public register opens for consultation from 1 July 2027 and the Labour Inspectorate enforces the scheme from 1 January 2028.
Yes, as a minimum. A supplied worker is entitled to at least the wages and other pay of employees in the same or an equivalent job at the client, and to the working time, overtime, rest, night work, breaks, leave and public holidays set by the client's collective agreement. The client sends these terms to the agency before the placement starts. Payrolling is excluded from this rule.
The Wtta makes a deposit one of the admission conditions, but we have not read the amount in the Act or its decree. Figures quoted by secondary sources are not confirmed, so check the amount with the authority or a licensed adviser before you budget for it.
In practice no. The Waadi exemption is for a business that has paid wages for at least 12 months and whose labour-supply turnover over 12 months is below 10% of its total turnover and no more than EUR 5,000,000. A business that mainly supplies workers does not meet that test.
Before the placement starts, the agency tells the client that the worker is supplied and records it in its own administration. The client records the worker no later than the first day of the placement. The records are kept for 7 years.
An employer based abroad notifies the workers it posts through the Dutch meldloket, reached from postedworkers.nl. The official page does not deal specifically with agencies, so confirm with the authority how the notification applies to a supply of workers.