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Important HR Updates for 2025
Some adjustments have been made to the Collective Labour Agreement for Temporary Agency Workers (ABU) and Dutch labour laws which have been implemented as of January 1st, 2025. Below we have provided a summary of the changes.
Minimum wage
As of January 1st the minimum wage requirements have been adjusted. As determined in July 2024, the minimum wage is based on an hourly specification rather than a monthly, daily, or weekly amount. The differences based on age for those under 21 years old still apply.
The minimum wage amount jumped notably higher in both January and July of 2024, and it has been increased again for 2025. The previous legal minimum wage for individuals 21 years of age and older was €13,68 per hour. As of January 1st, this has been adjusted to €14,06 per hour. It is important for companies to make sure that they are applying the minimum wage increase properly and compensating their employees accordingly.
Please see the table below for the updated requirements. If you have any questions about minimum wage in 2025 please let us know or visit the official Rijksoverheid website for more information.
Age
Minimum gross hourly wage 2024
21 and older
€14,06
20 years old
€11,25
19 years old
€8,44
18 years old
€7,03
17 years old
€5,55
16 years old
€4,85
15 years old
€4,22
*Information gathered from the official Rijksoverheid website - https://www.rijksoverheid.nl
Updated salary requirements for highly skilled migrants
In addition to the general minimum wage, the monthly salary requirements for highly skilled migrants have also been increased for 2025. The table below shows the monthly gross minimum wage requirement for each category of highly skilled migrant.
Type of highly skilled migrant
2025 salary requirements
Highly skilled migrant with reduced salary criterion
€2.989
Highly skilled migrant under 30 years of age
€4.171
Highly skilled migrant 30 years of age and older
€5.688
European Blue Card holder
€5.688
Reduced Salary Criterion for European Blue Card holder
€4.551
*This information can be found on the official IND website as of January 1st, 2025 - https://ind.nl/en/required-amounts-income-requirements
Changes to the CLA for Temporary Workers
The current CLA for Temporary Workers has been extended automatically until January 2026, as no new version has been agreed upon yet. It is possible that a new version will be proposed this year, and if this is the case we will keep you informed about any applicable changes.
If you have further questions about the CLA for Temporary Workers please contact one of our offices or visit the official ABU website for more information.
DBA Act Enforcement
Another thing to keep an eye on in 2025 is the sharpened enforcement of the DBA Act (Wet Deregulering Beoordeling Arbeidsrelatie). This law clarifies the aspects that differentiate independent contractors/freelancers from company employees. Although this piece of legislation was introduced several years ago the enforcement of it has not been very strict up to this point. It has been announced that starting as of January 1st, 2025 this will change. There will be a special focus on identifying instances of false self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid).
We advise you to review any collaborations with independent contractors you work with to make sure you are compliant with the requirements. You can complete this this scan (in Dutch) to get a better idea of whether your situation and the project you are working on can properly be classified as a freelance assignment. If you have any questions about the DBA Act enforcement in 2025 and how you should prepare for it please reach out to our U-Connect experts.
Changes to tax-free allowances
Lastly, the maximum amount for specific tax-free benefits have also increased in 2025. This refers specifically to the working from home allowance (thuiswerkvergoeding) which was increased to a maximum of €2,40 per day.
We hope this summary is helpful in getting your employee compensation in order for 2025. If you have any additional questions about HR in the Netherlands or the changes in 2025, please reach out to our experts or fill out our HR quick scan form to let us know how we can help.
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