Agency work in the Netherlands: Phase A, B and C — what you're entitled to in each (2026)

In short: If you work in the Netherlands through a staffing agency (uitzendbureau), your contract sits in one of three phases: A (your first 52 worked weeks — the agency can let you go the day the assignment ends), B (up to 3 more years, at most 6 fixed-term contracts — you get paid even between assignments) and C (permanent). Since 1 January 2026 there’s a new rule on top: your pay, holidays and sick pay must be equivalent to what the client company’s own staff get — not just the hourly rate. This article explains what that means in practice and what to check on your own contract.

Why is there a phase system at all?

Dutch agency work is governed by two collective agreements (CAOs): the ABU CAO and the NBBU CAO. Since 2026 their content is practically identical, so this article calls them “the agency CAO”. The logic is simple: the longer you work for the same agency, the more security you get. The three phases measure that. What counts is time with the agency, not with the client — if the agency moves you to a new factory, the counter keeps running.

Your phase is printed on your contract or payslip (“fase A”, “fase B”). If you can’t find it, ask the agency in writing — they have to tell you.

Phase A: your first 52 worked weeks

Phase A lasts 52 worked weeks with the same agency. Only weeks in which you actually worked (or took paid leave) count — how many hours doesn’t matter: an 8-hour week is still a week. If there’s a gap of more than 6 months between assignments with the same agency, the counter resets and you start Phase A again. This six-month rule is the one most agencies know and use.

In Phase A your contract usually includes an “uitzendbeding” (agency clause). It says: if the client ends the assignment, your contract ends too — the same day. No notice period, no severance. This is the biggest risk of agency work, and you should know it’s legal. In return, the CAO gives you two protections:

• Illness cannot end your contract. Under the current agency CAO, the uitzendbeding cannot be invoked simply because you reported sick. Your contract doesn’t end because you got ill — only if the assignment ends.
• “No work, no pay” only applies if it’s in writing. If your contract doesn’t contain that exclusion (loonuitsluiting), the agency has to pay you even when it has no work for you.

Even in Phase A, your pay follows the client company’s own staff — more on that below.

Phase B: at most 3 years, at most 6 contracts

If the agency keeps you on after 52 weeks, you enter Phase B. There’s no uitzendbeding here: you get fixed-term contracts, at most six, within at most three years. Gaps between contracts count towards the three years; a gap of more than six months drops you back to Phase A.

The big difference in Phase B: when the assignment ends, your contract doesn’t. The agency has to look for new work, and until it finds some, it has to keep paying your wage until the contract expires (for the exact rate, see the note below)*¹. That’s why many agencies try to “take a break” just before week 52 — if someone suggests you “rest for seven months and come back”, now you know why.

Phase C: a permanent contract

If the six contracts or three years run out and the agency keeps you on, you have a permanent agency contract. The agency can’t end it overnight: you get the same dismissal protection as any Dutch employee (UWV permit or court, transition payment). In practice, few agency workers get this far — and that’s no accident.

What changed on 1 January 2026: the whole package, not just the hourly rate

Until now the rule was that your hourly wage and a few allowances had to match the client’s own staff (“inlenersbeloning”). From 1 January 2026 the agency CAO goes further: your total package of employment conditions must be equivalent to that of the client’s own employee in the same job. In practice, three things that used to be fixed in the agency CAO now follow the client’s CAO:

• Holiday days: it used to be a fixed 25 days; now it’s whatever the client’s own staff get.
• Pay during illness: it used to be 1 waiting day and 90% (first year); now it’s the client’s rule — the legal floor is 70%.
• Public holidays: you get the client CAO’s public holidays; on rotating shifts, the 13 weeks before the holiday decide whether you’re paid for that day.

This can be better or worse than the old fixed rule — it depends on where you’re placed. A meat or logistics CAO gives different things from a greenhouse. If the value of your package dropped in 2026, the CAO prescribes a six-month transition. From the same date, pension (StiPP) starts from your first working day, with no waiting period.

What’s coming: shorter phases from 2028

On 7 July 2026 the Dutch Senate passed the Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers (More Security for Flex Workers Act). The parts affecting agency workers take effect on 1 January 2028: Phase B shrinks from 3 years to 2 years (still at most 6 contracts), and the break rule gets stricter — the agencies’ current “seven months off, then back to Phase A” practice disappears, because the counter no longer resets even after a much longer gap*². The exact transitional rules will come in the implementing decree; we’ll update this article then.

Frequently asked questions

I’m switching agencies. Do my weeks come with me? No. The phase is tied to the agency: with a new agency you start in Phase A again, at zero weeks — even if you keep working in the same factory. The one exception in the CAO is “opvolgend werkgeverschap” (successive employership): if the new agency gives you essentially the same work at the same client, your weeks may count. Ask for this in writing.

The factory is hiring me directly. What happens to my phase? The phase system stops applying, because you’re no longer an agency worker. At the factory the regular Dutch chain rule (ketenregeling) applies: at most 3 fixed-term contracts within 3 years, then permanent. Your time as an agency worker there may count under the successive-employership rule — settle that with the factory before you sign.

What if the agency isn’t an ABU or NBBU member? The agency CAO is normally declared generally binding by the ministry, so it applies to most agencies even if they aren’t members*³. If an agency tells you “no CAO applies to us”, treat that as a warning sign — ask FNV Flex.

Am I owed a transition payment (transitievergoeding) if my contract ends in Phase A? In principle yes: in the Netherlands it’s due from the first working day whenever the employer ends the contract, including termination through the uitzendbeding*⁴. For a short contract the amount is small (one third of a month’s gross per year of service, pro rata), but you have to ask — agencies don’t always pay it unprompted.

What to do now

1. Find your phase on your contract or payslip and count your worked weeks with the same agency. If you’re past 45, know that Phase B is close.
2. Ask in writing which CAO the client company follows, and how many holiday days and what sick pay its own staff get — since 2026 that’s your benchmark too.
3. Check the “uitzendbeding” and “loonuitsluiting” lines in your contract. If you don’t understand them, ask the agency; if they won’t answer, the union (FNV Flex) will explain them for free.

Related listings: Current listings on jobSCAN → The “Directly from the employer” label shows listings not posted by an agency.

* Notes — where no exact or citable figure exists:
*¹ Continued pay in Phase B is a CAO rule; whether it’s your full last wage or a percentage set in the CAO must be checked in the 2026–2028 CAO text — this article does not state a figure.
*² Sources differ on the new law’s break period (36 vs. 60 months); the final figure comes with the implementing decree. We’ll update.
*³ The general-binding declaration (AVV) is periodic; we have not verified that the decree for the 2026–2028 CAO has been published.
*⁴ The statutory rule (WAB, 2020) is not separately cited among this article’s sources; its application to uitzendbeding terminations can be contested in practice.

Sources: ABU — CAO voor Uitzendkrachten 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028 (2026-01) · Randstad Werkpocket — CAO uitzendkrachten 2026-2028: alle wijzigingen op een rij (2026) · SUSA — Ziekte, feestdagen & vakantiedagen in de ABU-cao 2026 (2026) · NBVT — Aanpassingen ABU-CAO per 1 januari 2026 (2026-01) · Flexhub — Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers aangenomen (2026-07) · Rijksoverheid — Wetsvoorstel voor meer zekerheid flexwerkers ingediend (2025-05-19) · AMBT Advocaten — Uitzendbeding: wat het is en jouw rechten (2026-09-02)