How do you find work in the Netherlands, what is in a contract, and what do you do if you are treated unfairly? This theme is about working and about the money you earn with it.
Machine translation: this page was translated automatically from the reviewed Dutch text and has not been checked by a person.
In short
In the official eindtermen (final attainment levels) this theme has four parts. They are listed below in the same order as in the law, and the rest of this guide follows that order too.
1.1
Looking for (new) work quickly and efficiently
1.2
Taking an active part in a work organisation
1.3
Dealing with (hidden) discrimination in the labour market and at work
1.4
Making preparations to start your own business
The KNM eindtermen for the theme Work and income are: looking for (new) work quickly and efficiently; taking an active part in a work organisation; dealing with (hidden) discrimination in the labour market and at work; making preparations to start your own business.
Source: Staatscourant 2024, 15802 — Regeling inburgering 2021 — accessed 23-08-2026
In the Netherlands you usually look for work yourself. There is no organisation that gives you a job. You look on vacancy websites, through uitzendbureaus (temping agencies), through the gemeente (municipality), and — very important — through people you know.
One or two pages. Your education, your work experience with years, your languages and your skills. In the Netherlands you usually put no photo, no age and no marital status on your cv. That is not impolite, that is normal.
Short, and different for every vacancy. You write why you fit that job, not your whole life story.
You arrive on time — in the Netherlands that means five minutes early. You shake hands, you look people in the eye, and you may ask questions yourself too. That is appreciated.
Many jobs are found through people. Tell people at your language class, at the sports club or at your volunteer work that you are looking for work. That is not begging, that is how it works here.
Amber van der Zalm · NT2 teacher
My students are often shocked by the idea of "selling" yourself in an application letter. In many countries that is boasting. Here it is simply giving information. Write down what you can do, in plain sentences. That is enough.
Have you lost your job? Then you report to UWV. That is the organisation that deals with unemployment benefits (WW) and with incapacity for work. If you have no right to WW and no other income either, you can apply for bijstand (social assistance) at your gemeente.
When you have work, you get an arbeidsovereenkomst (employment contract). That is a contract, usually on paper. Never sign anything you do not understand — ask for an explanation or for a day to think about it.
Bepaalde tijd (fixed term)
Duration
There is an end date in it
Ends
By itself on that date
Note
After a number of temporary contracts you have the right to a permanent contract
Onbepaalde tijd (indefinite term)
Duration
No end date
Ends
Only with your agreement, through UWV or through the court
Note
Your employer may not simply dismiss you
Every month you get a loonstrook (payslip, also called salarisstrook). It shows three things you must be able to read:
Everyone aged 21 and older has the right to at least the wettelijk minimumloon (statutory minimum wage). Younger employees have a minimumjeugdloon (youth minimum wage). The amounts change twice a year; check them on the website of the Rijksoverheid.
You also have the right to vakantiedagen (holiday days) and to vakantiegeld (holiday pay, usually in May). In many sectors there is a cao: agreements between employers and trade unions that come above your own contract. If you work in such a sector, those agreements apply to you too, also if they are not in your contract.
Everyone aged 21 and older who works in the Netherlands has the right to at least the statutory minimum wage; for younger employees the minimumjeugdloon applies. Agreements in a cao apply to all employees in that sector.
Sources: Rijksoverheid — Minimumloon · Rijksoverheid — Arbeidsovereenkomst en cao — accessed 23-08-2026
Do you become ill? Then you report sick to your employer, following the rules he has given you. Your employer continues to pay a large part of your wage. If you work through an uitzendbureau (temping agency), you report sick there — not at the company where you are working.
This is a separate eindterm, and for a reason. In the Netherlands discrimination is forbidden. An employer may not reject you or treat you differently because of your origin, your skin colour, your religion, your sex, your age, a disability or because you are pregnant.
This is not allowed
This is what you can do
Hidden discrimination is harder: you are not invited, and you never hear why. That is why the eindtermen mention it separately. You do not have to prove it in order to ask for help with it. Every gemeente must have an antidiscriminatievoorziening (anti-discrimination service) where you can go for free.
Discrimination is forbidden in the Netherlands. Every gemeente must give residents access to an antidiscriminatievoorziening; in addition, anyone can ask the College voor de Rechten van de Mens for a ruling.
Sources: Rijksoverheid — Discriminatie · College voor de Rechten van de Mens — accessed 23-08-2026
Amber van der Zalm · NT2 teacher
This subject almost always comes back in the exam as a situation: someone hears a remark at work, what does he do? The right answer is rarely "do nothing" and rarely "resign immediately". It is almost always: name it, and look for help from someone whose job that is.
Do you want to work for yourself? That is allowed, and many people doing inburgering (civic integration) do it. The main line is short.
First look at your verblijfsvergunning (residence permit) and what it says on the back about work. Not every permit gives the same rights for running a business.
You register your business with the Kamer van Koophandel. You get a KVK number and the Belastingdienst gives you a btw number (VAT number).
You keep your invoices, you usually file a btw return every quarter, and once a year you file an income tax return.
As an entrepreneur you get no wage paid during illness and you build up no employee pension. You arrange that yourself, or you consciously accept the risk.
Anyone starting a business in the Netherlands registers it with the Kamer van Koophandel; the Belastingdienst then issues a btw number. The KVK describes the steps from registration to administration.
Source: KVK — Een bedrijf starten — accessed 23-08-2026
Be careful with "schijnzelfstandigheid" (false self-employment): if in practice you are simply an employee but you have to register yourself as a zzp’er (self-employed person), you miss protection you are entitled to. Ask about this at a trade union or at the Juridisch Loket before you sign.
The exam does not ask for amounts. It asks whether you know where you have to go: UWV for WW, the gemeente for bijstand, the Belastingdienst for tax and toeslagen (allowances), the KVK for your business, and an antidiscriminatiebureau if you are treated unfairly.
Practise this theme with exam questionsSituations like in the real KNM exam, with an explanation after each answer.
Start a free practice examBrutoloon (gross pay) is your pay before anything is taken off. Wage tax and contributions are taken off that. What is left is your nettoloon (net pay), and that is the amount that comes into your bank account. Both amounts are on your loonstrook every month.
First write down what exactly happened, when and who was there. Then discuss it with your manager or with the vertrouwenspersoon (confidential adviser) of the company. If that does not help, you can report it free of charge to the antidiscriminatiebureau of your gemeente, or ask the College voor de Rechten van de Mens for a ruling.
At UWV. They assess whether you have the right to a WW benefit. If you do not have that right and you have no other income either, you apply for bijstand (social assistance) at your own gemeente. Report quickly, because the date of your report counts.
Usually yes, but it depends on your verblijfsvergunning (residence permit). First look at what it says on the back of your permit about work. If it is allowed, you register your business with the Kamer van Koophandel and the Belastingdienst gives you a btw number.
A collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst (collective labour agreement): agreements between employers and trade unions about pay, working hours and holidays in a whole sector. If you work in a sector with a cao, those agreements apply to you too, also if they are not literally in your own contract.
Reviewed by Amber van der Zalm, certified NT2 teacher — August 23, 2026 This page is a translation of that reviewed Dutch text; the translation itself was not reviewed. The Dutch version is the source.