Sending a crew from another EU country to a Dutch shipyard, plant or offshore base opens two separate files: a posting notification with the Dutch government and a payroll tax question with the Belastingdienst. This guide explains the basics of posted workers Netherlands rules for HR and payroll teams: who notifies and when, which documents must be on site, which Dutch terms apply, and when Dutch payroll taxes come into play.
The Dutch government portal postedworkers.nl states that foreign employees temporarily posted to the Netherlands must be notified to the Dutch government. This applies to workers from the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland. The notification is made by the foreign employer, or by a self-employed person coming to work in the Netherlands, and the Dutch client has a role too:
The portal asks employers to notify the assignment and the workers before they come to the Netherlands, so the notification is in order before work starts. It asks, among other things, for the type of work, the duration, the work address and the identity of the employees.
The client must complete its check no later than 5 working days after the assignment starts. If the information is wrong, the client marks the notification as incorrect, the foreign party receives an email asking for a correction, and the client checks again.
No notification is needed when the company is established in the Netherlands and its employees have a Dutch contract. The portal also lists exempt sectors, by SBI code, and some short, incidental activities, for example:
These exemptions do not apply to workers with the nationality of a third country, outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
The foreign employer must have these documents for its posted workers available at the workplace, on paper or electronically, in Dutch, English, German or French:
The documents must remain available for five years after the work ends. When the Netherlands Labour Inspectorate (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) asks for them, they must be supplied within four weeks.
The Labour Inspectorate checks compliance. Postedworkers.nl publishes base fines, for example €1,500 for a company client that did not check a notification and €8,000 for a foreign employer without the required documents at the workplace.
During the first 12 months, posted workers are entitled to the most important Dutch terms of employment, including the statutory minimum wage, rules on working hours and sufficient rest, safe working conditions, a minimum number of paid holidays and equal treatment of men and women. Where a collective labour agreement has been declared generally binding (avv-cao), they are also entitled to its hard core terms.
After 12 months, or in some cases 18, additional Dutch terms apply, except supplementary company pension arrangements and the rules on concluding and terminating the contract. If an assignment unexpectedly runs longer, the employer can extend once by 6 months through the meldloket.
The notification does not settle the payroll question. According to the Belastingdienst, an employer not established in the Netherlands, with personnel who live or work there, must in some situations withhold Dutch payroll taxes. Two separate tests apply.
Wage tax is withheld if the employee must pay tax on the wage in the Netherlands, and tax treaties decide that. As a rule, the state where the employee works may tax the wage earned there. Under the 183-day rule, the state where the employee lives may tax instead only if all three conditions are met:
If one condition fails, the Netherlands can levy wage tax. If the Dutch company receiving the worker is in fact the material employer, the formal foreign employer must pay wage tax from the employee's first working day in the Netherlands.
For national insurance contributions, employee insurance contributions and the Zvw (Health Care Insurance Act) contribution, one criterion counts: whether the employee falls under the Dutch social security schemes. European Regulation 883/2004, social security agreements and national law decide that. Because the tests are separate, the wage tax answer does not settle the contributions answer.
When withholding applies, the obligations are to register as an employer, establish the identity of each employee, keep payroll records, file payroll tax returns and pay the taxes. A foreign employer registers with the Registration Form Foreign Companies and usually receives a payroll tax number (loonheffingennummer) within one week.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by country, and the outcome depends on nationality, employer setup, duration and the client relationship. Before mobilising, confirm with the official sources, and an adviser where needed, whether notification or an exemption applies, where wage tax is due and which social security applies.
RAM's published project records include work in the Netherlands:
The first three are different settings: a vessel alongside, an offshore workfront and an onshore workshop. Settings like these raise the questions in this article differently: what the work address is, how long the assignment runs and how hours are recorded on a rotation.
RAM's published method has four steps before anyone mobilises: understand the work (scope, programme, disciplines, site conditions), match capability to the task, check qualifications and documentation against what the project asks for, and agree scope, supervision, interfaces and deliverables.
The two delivery models divide the work differently. In workforce solutions, crews join the client's organisation and the client directs the work, while RAM handles employment, documentation, mobilisation and workforce administration. In technical subcontracting, RAM organises the trades, supervision and coordination around a defined package, its deliverables and its acceptance criteria.
RAM's payroll and employment services cover Romania, Denmark and Norway, as payroll for the client's own employees or employment through RAM. The employing entity, assignment terms and any staffing permissions are confirmed for each country and project. The published process starts by defining the country, headcount, roles, work location and start date, then agrees the employment model, registrations, duties and terms. Payroll support does not remove an employer's registration or legal obligations.
If you are planning a crew for an offshore or industrial assignment and want to agree scope and documentation before anyone travels, contact the RAM team.
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