You can hold a Dutch job entirely in English and still be handed four documents a year that are only in Dutch, each of which decides money. This page covers those, plus the freelance path, which is where the Dutch stops being optional altogether.
Your payslip, and the holiday pay hiding in it
The loonstrook is dense and abbreviated, and the line most expats miss is vakantiegeld: holiday allowance, typically 8% of gross annual salary, accrued monthly and usually paid out in May. It is not a bonus; it is deferred salary you have already earned. Decoding your Dutch loonstrook takes a payslip apart line by line, including the loonheffingskorting toggle that changes your monthly take-home.
Calling in sick, and what you are paid
The procedure is called ziekmelden, it is usually a phone call to your manager before the day starts, and it is far more private than most newcomers expect: your employer may not ask what is wrong with you, may not record a diagnosis, and cannot demand a doctor’s note, because the ziektebriefje does not exist in the Dutch system.
What nobody mentions in the first week is the money. Your employer keeps paying you for up to two years of illness: at least 70% of your wage throughout, and never below the statutory minimum wage in the first year. Many collective agreements top that to 100% in year one, so check your CAO. Calling in sick in Dutch: the ziekmelden email has the phone script, the written message, the exact boundary of what your employer may ask, and the bedrijfsarts steps if it runs long.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| de loonstrook | payslip |
| het vakantiegeld | holiday allowance, ~8%, usually paid in May |
| zich ziekmelden | to call in sick |
| de bedrijfsarts | company doctor (not your GP) |
| de CAO | collective labour agreement |
| de ondernemingsraad (OR) | works council |
| de factuur | invoice |
| btw / btw verlegd | VAT / VAT reverse-charged |
The works council, and the meeting culture
Companies above a certain size have an ondernemingsraad, a works council with real statutory rights over things like working hours and reorganisations. It is one of the more surprising features of Dutch employment for people arriving from elsewhere, and it is worth understanding before you are asked to vote in it: what is the OR? Your Dutch works council, explained.
Meetings themselves have a register: direct, egalitarian, and happy to disagree with the most senior person in the room. The overleg is where the work is discussed and the Friday borrel is where a surprising amount of it is actually decided, so treat the drinks as part of the job rather than an optional extra.
Going freelance: the KVK, the invoice, the bank account
The moment you go independent, Dutch becomes non-negotiable. You register with the KVK (Chamber of Commerce), you get a VAT number, and you start issuing invoices with legally required fields. KVK and ZZP: the Dutch vocab for going freelance covers registration and the status questions that follow.
The invoice itself has rules: a sequential number, both parties’ details, your btw number, the date, and a payment term. The legal default is 30 days; business clients can agree up to 60 in the contract, and large companies buying from small suppliers may not exceed 30. Invoicing your first Dutch client: the factuur dictionary covers the fields, the reminders and btw verlegd. For the account it all lands in, the zakelijke rekening: opening a Dutch business bank account compares the banks and their requirements for ZZP and BV.
Two specific workplaces
Two guides cover jobs where the Dutch is immediate and nobody eases you in: working an Amsterdam bar, which is the fastest spoken Dutch you will meet, and your PhD defense: reading the Dutch promotie protocol, which is the most formal.
Where to start
- Read one payslip properly and find your holiday pay: the loonstrook guide.
- Learn the ziekmelden script before you are ill: calling in sick in Dutch.
- Find your CAO and check whether sick pay is topped up to 100%.
- Going freelance? KVK and ZZP vocabulary first, then the factuur dictionary.
- Go to the borrel. It is where the team actually forms, and where more gets decided than in the overleg.
What we checked
The claims on this page that decide money, a deadline or a legal right, with the source each came from and the date we last read it.
- Holiday allowance is at least 8% of the gross salary earned over the previous year; above three times the minimum wage it can be reduced or waived in writing. rijksoverheid.nl
- An employer pays at least 70% of wage during illness for up to two years, never below the statutory minimum wage in the first year. rijksoverheid.nl
- A 30-day invoice payment term is the norm; 60 days is the legal maximum between companies and 30 for government bodies. business.gov.nl