In the Netherlands, there are permanent and temporary contracts. A permanent contract is for an indefinite period and a temporary contract is for an agreed period. If you have had 3 consecutive temporary or stand-by contracts, you are then in permanent employment. You also receive a permanent contract if you have had several temporary contracts for a period of more than 3 years.
In addition, there are 3 types of stand-by contracts: a stand-by contract with a preliminary agreement, a zero-hour contract and a min-max contract. After 6 months, you are usually entitled to a contract for the average number of hours per week that you have worked in those 6 months. You have to request this contract yourself, so make sure you do so!
After one year, an employer is obliged to offer you a contract with a fixed number of hours. That must be done if your contract is extended or your employer offers you a new contract after one year. You may also choose to continue working under an on-call contract. That is your own choice; your employer cannot force you to accept this.
Finally, there is also the temporary employment contract, which may only be given by employment agencies. The period of zero-hour and on-call contracts may in that case be 52 weeks. After these 52 weeks, you can have six more contracts in three years.
Want to know more? Feel free to contact SNCU-helpdesk:
Telephone:
- 0800-7008 (free)
- 0031 85210 40 80 (international)
E-mail: helpdesk@sncu.nl