News item | 06-02-2025 | 17:08
The cabinet wants employers to no longer be able to deduct money on the minimum wage of workers for the costs of housing. At present, employers may charge a maximum of 25% of the minimum wage for housing costs. This scheme is often used for housing labor migrants. The deduction option for housing can encourage a revenue model in which labor migrants are exploited. That is why this scheme is gradually reduced and abolished in the long term.
In a letter to the House of Representatives, Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment writes that it is important that employers continue to take responsibility for the accommodation of their employees. They can do this by offering a lease contract, whereby the employee makes the payment, for example by direct debit.
Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment: “The government wants employers to have labor migrants pay a fair price for housing. We see that employers use the deduction too much as a revenue model. I concluded from the exploration to this scheme that there are too many abuses surrounding this scheme and I therefore decided that it will be abolished in the long term.“
It has become clear from an exploration that labor migrants are being unburdened to a certain extent by the deduction of housing, but that the collection option is also used as a revenue model. For example, it appears that the maximum amount is regularly withheld on the wage, while the quality of the home sometimes does not justify this. For the Dutch Labor Inspectorate, the abolition of the deduction option makes it easier to check whether an employer pays the statutory minimum wage.
The driving team protection team of labor migrants has recommended to break through dependence on labor migrants. The Landlorderschap Act regulates that a lease must be separated from the employment contract. However, the capacity option ensures that there is still too large a connection between work and rent. For these reasons, the government wants to abolish the regulation with regard to housing in the long term.
Gradually phasing out and additional policy
As of January 1, 2030, employers may no longer include a salary on the minimum wage of workers with regard to housing costs. At the moment, employers can hold a maximum of 25% of the salary on the minimum wage. From January 1, 2026, this percentage will be five percent less each year, so that this scheme will come to an end by 2030.
The abolition of the scheme must be carefully done to give employers, housing and social partners the time to adapt. Extra measures are needed to further improve the position of labor migrants. In the letter to parliament, the government states that it is working on further improving the rental and rental price protection for labor migrants and the tackling of abuses in housing. Work is also being done on more housing supply and the supervision and enforcement of housing is strengthened