Minister rejects claim self-employed bill upsets labour market deal

Minister Aartsen (Work and Participation) rejects the view that the draft Zelfstandigenwet breaks the medium-term advice of the SER or upsets the balance of the labour market package. "Deze mening deel ik niet," he said in written answers to parliamentary questions, received on 9 November.

The act is meant to give more clarity on when work falls outside an employment relationship, tackle false self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid) and leave room for genuine self-employment. Aartsen says these goals can go hand in hand.

Anyone who consciously chooses to work as a self-employed person, and genuinely works independently, must get the room to do so.Minister Aartsen

The act was not part of the originally agreed labour market package, he says, but belongs to a wider modernisation of the labour market. The cabinet weighs the measures together, including those on incapacity for the self-employed, taxation and the regulation of flexible work.

The bill is not final. Social partners gave input in the online consultation (internetconsultatie), which is now being processed. They will also be consulted in the regular coordination with the Stichting van de Arbeid, as is usual for labour market legislation.

A limited number of elements may be worked out later in an algemene maatregel van bestuur (AMvB, a government decree). They concern which provisions count towards the criterion that a worker spends a minimum amount on protection against the risks of self-employment, that minimum amount, and the characteristics indicating self-employment in the self-employed test. The explanatory memorandum describes how the government wants to fill these in, and consultation input will be weighed.