{"id":4732,"date":"2026-10-02T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"im-68731"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T22:00:00","slug":"the-self-employed-persons-act-provides-greater-clarity-for-the-self-employed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/zelfstandigenwet-biedt-meer-duidelijkheid-voor-zzpers\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Employment Act provides greater clarity for self-employed people"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Self-Employment Act, which is expected to come into force in January 2028, aims to provide greater clarity regarding the working relationship between self-employed people and clients. The Act seeks to combat bogus self-employment and to give self-employed people the recognition they deserve. This is achieved through two tests: the self-employment test and the working relationship test. Anyone who meets both tests and works in this way in practice will know in advance that they can work as a self-employed person. In the words of the Act, this is referred to as a \u2018safe harbour\u2019. Anyone who does not meet both tests must determine, on the basis of the current criteria, whether they are working as a self-employed person.<\/p>\n<h4>Self-Employment Test<\/h4>\n<p>The self-employment test focuses on the entrepreneur themselves and their entrepreneurial activities in the economic sphere. There are three criteria:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The worker must have had at least three clients in the period up to and including the previous calendar year.<\/li>\n<li>A minimum amount must be set aside for provisions to cover business risks, such as disability insurance or a pension scheme.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>The self-employed person must have the basic requirements in place, such as registration with the Chamber of Commerce, a business bank account, a VAT registration number and the ability to issue invoices themselves.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4>Work-related assessment<\/h4>\n<p>The employment relationship test assesses the specific employment relationship and examines whether the work is carried out with sufficient independence, without 'supervision'. The four criteria are:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The parties\u2019 wish not to enter into an employment relationship.<\/li>\n<li>The freedom to organise one\u2019s own work.<\/li>\n<li>The freedom to determine one\u2019s working hours and place of work. There are exceptions to this criterion for work that must be carried out at a specific location and for work that must be carried out at specific times.<\/li>\n<li>Working at one\u2019s own expense and risk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In this regard, it is the actual implementation of the agreement that is decisive, not what has been agreed on paper. All criteria must be met. There is no order of priority.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Internet consultation<\/h4>\n<p>The Self-Employed Persons Act is currently open for public consultation online. Comments on the draft bill can be submitted until 29 October 2026 at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetconsultatie.nl\/verduidelijkingzelfstandigenwet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.internetconsultatie.nl<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size:smaller\" class=\"im_source\">Source: Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment | legislative proposal | 28905 | 1 October 2026<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Self-Employment Act, which is expected to come into force in January 2028, aims to increase<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}