Attention hirers: the Bogus Schemes (Combating) Act (WAS)

Employment Law

17 November 2014

Attention hirers: the Bogus Schemes (Combating) Act (WAS)

Stelt u zich eens voor: u werkt al jaren met dezelfde zelfstandige. Hij stuurt facturen, factureert btw en heeft een eigen kvk-nummer. Toch krijgt u in 2026 ineens vragen van de Belastingdienst over de aard van uw samenwerking. Hoe heeft het zo ver kunnen komen?

With the entry into force of the Bogus Schemes (Combating) Act (hereinafter: WAS) on 1 January 2015, the legislator aims to promote fair competition between companies and safeguard decent pay for employees. The WAS therefore prevents a number of undesirable constructions that are often applied by (foreign) temporary employment agencies, payroll companies or secondment agencies in the Netherlands to circumvent the rules of our employment law and social legislation that protect employees. Hirers and clients will be dealt with even more severely under this and will be considered jointly responsible.

This law gives the Inspectorate SZW more powers to enforce.

The law is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2015. Curious what will change? The main points are explained in more detail below.

The payslip will get additional rules and requirements it must meet, and it will have to be provided to the supervisory authority upon request;

The law entails that employers must henceforth state all expense allowances on the payslip. The amount of these expense allowances must also be stated. This is made mandatory to prevent employees from receiving less than the statutory minimum wage (hereinafter: WML) through various unspecified expense allowances that supplement the wage;

It will become mandatory to pay out the equal portion up to the statutory minimum wage by bank transfer. This allows the Inspectorate SZW to better monitor compliance with the WML and establish any underpayment.

Costs such as housing costs, to be offset up to 20% of the minimum wage, and health insurance premiums, to be offset up to 10% of the minimum wage, may no longer be offset;

The data from the inspection investigations and findings will be made public, in line with the desire for transparency in providing government information about the (under)performance of companies and institutions. With this, the Inspectorate SZW hopes to strengthen the preventive effect and ensure better compliance with the law;

Civil-law chain liability is being introduced, which ensures that when an employee does not receive their wages and the employer cannot be found or reached, the employee can hold other parties in the chain liable for payment of the wages owed. It is then up to the client to demonstrate that the underpayment cannot be attributed to them;

To improve CLA compliance and enforcement, periods in which no generally binding (avv) CLA applies will be prevented as much as possible;

Part of the fight against bogus constructions is also the bill for the No Payroll Tax Withholding Decision (BGL). This bill entails that clients become jointly responsible for the correct use of the BGL (formerly the VAR). This means that the client will have to verify whether the description on the decision matches the facts and circumstances under which the work is performed. If the client indicates that this is correct but it turns out in practice, for example during an inspection, that there is nevertheless a bogus construction / disguised employment relationship, then the client is jointly responsible for this.

Practical advice

If, as a client, you regularly do business with temporary employment agencies or payroll companies that make use of foreign employees or are themselves established abroad, make sure you have strictly checked these companies for compliance with employment law rules and social insurance laws. It is also important that you contract with these companies in the correct manner and that you yourself have properly discharged any (chain) liability.
Moreover, as a client, you do not want to become negatively known through the publication of irregularities by the Inspectorate SZW. To prevent the disclosure of (unfavourable) data resulting from inspection investigations, it is also advisable, as of 1 January 2015, to ensure that the adjusted payslips and the associated method of payment by bank transfer are indeed used. It is important to implement this not only for future but also for existing contractual relationships with temporary employment agencies and payroll companies.

If you have questions about this topic, please contact us. We can be reached by phone at 020-3450152. You can also always send your question by email to hvercammen@thelegalcompany.nl

De afgelopen jaren stonden in het teken van de Wet VBAR, het wetsvoorstel dat een einde moest maken aan onduidelijkheid over de zzp’er. Het kabinet heeft delen van dat voorstel inmiddels geschrapt. Op het eerste gezicht is dat goed nieuws: minder regels, minder administratieve last. Maar in de praktijk blijven dezelfde toetsen overeind.

“De inhoud van de samenwerking is leidend, niet wat er op papier staat.”

De Belastingdienst handhaaft sinds 1 januari 2025 weer actief op schijnzelfstandigheid. En recente uitspraken van de Hoge Raad bevestigen dat rechters strikt toetsen of er sprake is van ondergeschiktheid en gezagsverhouding.

Voor uw praktijk betekent dit drie dingen. Een: leg de samenwerking duidelijk vast, met aandacht voor de inhoud. Twee: voorkom dat een zzp’er feitelijk werkt als werknemer. Drie: wees voorbereid op een controle, en weet hoe u de relatie kunt herzien als dat moet.

Heeft u vragen over uw concrete situatie? Wij sparren dagelijks met opdrachtgevers over hun zzp-relaties. Vraag een offerte op of bekijk onze Legal Safe abonnementen.