News item | 23-01-2025 | 2:05 PM
There will be a new unit within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment that will determine whether employment agencies are admitted to the market before they hire out staff. Minister Eddy van Hijum wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives. Once the new law has been adopted, no staff may be hired out without permission. This licensing system must make an important contribution to tackling abuses in the lending sector and the exploitation of migrant workers.
Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment: “I am happy that we can now take this step forward. This is necessary to tackle abuses in the temporary employment sector more effectively. Many abuses are caused by fraudulent employment agencies and their hirers who have created a revenue model of underpaying workers and offering substandard housing. It is a ‘race to the bottom’ that ensures that companies that comply with the law are outcompeted by those that do not. With this law we can finally weed out the bad apples better.”
Admission system
This bill introduces an admission system for employment agencies and other companies that provide workers. The core of this system is that these lenders may only operate on the market if they are permitted to do so. To do this, they must, among other things, submit a Certificate of Good Conduct and pay a deposit of € 100,000. Companies that use employment agencies, the so-called hirers, may only do business with employment agencies that are admitted to the market.
A new licensing body will make decisions on behalf of the minister on whether a temporary employment agency is admitted to the market. This body can also suspend broadcasters and withdraw admission in the event of serious abuses.
Over the past period, the possibilities for carrying out these tasks within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment have been investigated. This exploration shows that the ministry is considered capable of implementing this task. Based on this advice, the minister has decided to set up a unit within the ministry. Preparations for this have started and it will become clear this spring at the latest when the law can come into effect, provided that the House of Representatives and Senate adopt the law. In the letter to the House of Representatives, the minister indicates that he looks forward to debating the bill in the near future.