Cindy advises national and international entrepreneurs and employers.
cindy.ting@russell.nl +31203015555On-call contracts offer many advantages for both employers and on-call employees. However, there are also a few rules that they need to take into account. What are they?
Many enterprises work with on-call employees. It is advantageous for employers because they can adapt their business operations to the developments in the market. But there are also benefits for on-call employees: they are free to work more or fewer hours and it can also be a step towards a permanent contract. What kind of contracts are there for on-call employees? What are the rights of on-call employees and which obligations do employers have to meet?
Besides, specific rules do apply to different types of on-call contracts. There are three types of on-call contracts, zero-hours contracts, min.-max. contracts, and pre-agreements. However, since the introduction of the chain rule the latter hardly exist anymore and will not be dealt with in this blog.
On 19 May 2025, the bill on greater security for flex workers was submitted to the Dutch House of Representatives. One of the measures in the bill concerns the abolition of zero-hour contracts. The intention is for this law to come into force on 1 January 2027. Until then, zero-hour contracts will not be prohibited.
A zero-hours contract is an employment contract and therefore there are obligations for both employers and employees. Employers must, for instance, call upon employees when there is work and workers are in principle required to perform work when called upon. In principle, employers are required to continue to pay salary even if there is no work or if no work can be performed due to other reasons at the risk of the employer.
The obligation to continue to pay wages in the event of sickness is only applicable if the on call employee gets sick during the on-call period. If the on-call worker gets sick outside the on-call period, the obligation does not apply.
In this contract a minimum and maximum number of hours are agreed upon between employer and employee. The minimum hours are also referred to as “guaranteed number of hours”.
On-call employees have to be paid for the guaranteed number of hours, even if the hours were not worked.
If an on-call worker is not able to perform work due to sickness, the obligation to continue to pay wages during sickness is applicable for at least the guaranteed number of hours.
With regard to all on-call contracts, the call must be made at least four days in advance in writing or electronically. The call period can be shortened to a minimum of 24 hours in collective labour agreements. An on-call worker is therefore not obliged to work in the event of a verbal call or a call made within four days, unless a shorter period is specified in the collective labour agreement.
If the employer cancels the call within four days, the on-call worker is entitled to the wages they would have received if they had worked. Even if the employer reduces the number of hours within four days of the call, the on-call worker is entitled to the wages they would have received if the working hours had not been changed.
Regarding all on-call contracts, each time the employees are called upon they are entitled to a salary for at least three hours of work. Even if the employees have worked for a period of less than three hours. This requires however that the employment contract does not contain a clear scope of work, or that the scope of work is less than 15 hours per week. Min.-max. contracts are subject to the condition that the guaranteed number of hours is less than 15 hours per week. This may have been deviated from in a collective agreement.
In principle, the employer is required to continue to pay wages if the employee is unable to perform work due to reasons at the risk of the employer, such as cancellation of an order, technical problems, or if a company is snowed in. In an on-call contract the obligation to continue to pay wages also applies if the employer can provide work but does not make a call upon the employees.
The employer can exclude this obligation to continue to pay wages in the contract. For zero-hours contracts this means, for instance, that the employer is not required to continue to pay wages if there is no more work, regarding min. max. contracts, this means that the guaranteed number of hours don’t have to be paid, only the hours worked have to be paid. The rule that three hours per call have to be paid will remain in effect.
The obligation to continue to pay wages can be excluded for a maximum period of six months, but in collective agreements may be laid down the possibility of extension. This is only possible if the activities are carried out occasionally and not restricted in scope. For instance, if employees are only called upon in peak periods or to substitute employees that are temporarily absent.
After three months of regular call-up, the employee can invoke the “legal presumption of working hours”. This means that an employment contract has been created based on the average hours worked per month. It is up to the employer to prove otherwise.
Within one month of the end of a year, the employer must offer the on-call worker a contract for a fixed number of hours. The number of hours is determined on the basis of the average number of hours worked in the previous year.
The on-call worker is not obliged to accept this offer. They can therefore choose to continue working flexibly. The employer is obliged to make a new offer for a fixed number of hours every twelve months. If the employer fails to do so, the on-call worker is entitled to wages for the number of hours that the employer should have offered them.
A recent ruling by the Dutch Supreme Court states that an on-call worker can always invoke the legal presumption of working hours with retroactive effect, even if they have previously refused an offer for a fixed number of hours on several occasions. The legal presumption of working hours and the right to an offer for a fixed number of hours exist side by side. It follows that an on-call worker can still invoke the legal presumption at any later point in time.
It is therefore important for employers to keep accurate records of working hours. If an on-call worker has been called in extra often during a certain period (e.g. due to colleagues being ill or peak periods), it is wise to record this so that it can be demonstrated that this period is not representative of the normal work pattern and that the scope of work should therefore not be based on the average number of hours worked during that period.
On-call contracts, in whatever form, are usually temporary contracts. Since the introduction of the Work and Security Act, stricter rules have been applied regarding the probationary period, notice period, chain rule, and non-solicitation clause.
The Dutch Civil Code contains a list of information that the employer must provide to employees about their employment contracts, including information about the probationary period and salary. Employers have an additional duty to provide information to on-call workers. The employment contract must therefore state:
It may be wise to include an ancillary activities clause in the employment contract with the on-call worker. This clause may state that the on-call worker is prohibited from performing ancillary activities if there is an objective reason for this. After all, if an on-call worker also works for someone else, they will be less available for calls.
Would you like to learn more about the rights of on-call employees and the obligations of employers? Do you need assistance in a dispute with an employee? We are happy to be of service. Please contact us:
The statutory minimum hourly wage changes every six months. What are the new amounts as of 1 January 2026?
The works council has the right of consent when establishing, amending or withdrawing a remuneration system. Is an amendment to a share scheme an amendment to the remuneration system?
The salary thresholds for highly skilled migrants and European Blue Card holders are adjusted annually. What will be the amounts for 2026? Also, stricter rules for the highly skilled migrant scheme are proposed. What might change?
What shall we do with the drunken employee? Sack him? That isn’t always allowed. Alcohol abuse may be the result of an addiction and in that case the prohibition on termination during illness may apply. What do you have to take into account when dismissing an employee due to alcohol consumption?
24 November 2025 was Equal Pay Day in the Netherlands: the day of the year when men have earned on average as much as women in a whole year. How can the European Directive on wage transparency ensure that men and women are paid equally?
Almost all companies now use some form of AI. This means that they may be subject to the prohibitions and regulations set out in the European AI Act. How can you ensure that you comply with these rules?
