Foreign personnel

If you have a company in the Netherlands and you are looking for personnel, you are obliged to recruit first of all within the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland. You will have to demonstrate that you cannot find a suitable employee in either the EEA or Switzerland before being permitted to recruit in other countries.

Work permit

You usually require a work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning) for employees from Bulgaria, Romania and non-EEA countries. A work permit is not required if the worker comes from an EEA member country or from Switzerland.

If you hire foreign personnel via an intermediary (e.g. temporary employment agency, contracting firm or subcontractor), you are responsible for ensuring that they have a work permit. The intermediary must request this permit.

Citizen service number/tax and social insurance number

Foreign employees who are required to pay tax in the Netherlands must have a citizen service number (burgerservicenummer) or a tax and social insurance number (sofinummer). They must personally collect this number from an office of the Tax and Customs Administration.

Proof of identity for foreign employees

You must ensure that your records include a copy of the proof of identity of all foreign employees who you hire in or employ via a contractor or subcontractor. You must keep these copies for 5 years after the person stops working for you.

Self-employed workers and freelancers

If you work with self-employed workers without employees (zzp’ers) or freelancers from abroad, you must check whether they are permitted to reside in the Netherlands and work as self employed people. This is stated in their residence permit or passport. You will usually need a work permit for self-employed workers without employees from outside the EEA.