Greater Security for Flexible Workers Act

Greater Security for Flexible Workers Bill
On May 16, 2025 , the Greater Security for Flexible Workers Bill was submitted to the House of Representatives. Flexible workers are employees who do not have a permanent contract and who work mostly on temporary contracts or on-call contracts or through employment agencies.

Purpose of the Bill
The Bill aims to (i) provide employees who work on flexible employment contracts with greater security and clarity on working hours and schedules, (ii) provide flexible workers with more prospects of a permanent contract, and (iii) reduce the differences between permanent and flexible contracts.

Changes to current legislation
The changes that will be implemented with the Act are as follows:

• Temporary contracts – amendments to the provisions on the succession of fixed-term employment contracts (‘ketenregeling’);
• Zero-hour contracts disappear;
• Stricter rules for the staffing industry.

 Temporary contracts – amendments to the provisions on the succession of fixed-term employment contracts (‘ketenregeling’)
The purpose of the amendments to the provisions on the succession of fixed-term employment contracts is to provide greater security for employees over time, in the form of a permanent contract. Currently, these provisions entail that after three successive temporary contracts (a ‘chain of contracts’) or if the duration of successive temporary contracts exceeds a period of three years, employees must be given a permanent contract. The chain of contracts is interrupted by an interim period of more than six months between successive contracts. A new chain of temporary contracts may then be started.

The Bill extends the interim period from over six months to five years. This means that in a situation where an employer offers another contract to an employee within five years after the expiration of a temporary contract, the new contract will be part of the chain. Exceptions to this rule remain possible for seasonal work and side jobs.

Zero-hour contracts disappear
No number of working hours is agreed in zero-hour contracts (a form of on-call contract). The Bill abolishes zero-hour contracts to give workers greater job and income security. Zero-hour contracts will be replaced by range contracts. In these contracts, a fixed minimum number of hours per week is agreed for which employees will in any event be paid. On top of the minimum hours, employers may also flexibly schedule employees for working hours of up to 30% of the agreed number of fixed hours. This means that an employee may not simply refuse a call that falls within the range of 130%. On the other hand, then, there is a limit to the availability of employees.

Staffing industry
The Bill provides for working conditions for temporary workers that are equivalent to those of regular employees of the company in which they are employed and who perform the same work. The term ‘equivalence’ is defined in the collective bargaining agreement. If no collective bargaining agreement applies, employers must inform temporary workers of their terms of employment.

Current state of affairs
Given the recent fall of the government, it is still uncertain if and when the Bill will take effect