In short: Two listings — one says €15.20 an hour, the other €2,600 gross a month. Which pays more? You can’t tell by looking: the monthly figure may be based on a 36-, 38- or 40-hour week, and the real difference is often not in the wage but in the deductions (housing, insurance) and shift allowances. This article gives you a five-step method to bring any two Dutch offers onto the same footing. The legal minimum from 1 July 2026 is €14.99 gross per hour for anyone 21 or over — no offer may go below it.
Step 1: convert everything to a gross hourly rate
Since 2024 the Dutch minimum wage is set per hour, and every CAO wage can be traced back to an hourly rate. So break the monthly figure down to hours too — but for that you need to know how many hours a full-time week is at that company. It differs by CAO: 36, 38 or 40 hours.
The formula: monthly wage × 12 ÷ 52 ÷ weekly hours.
Example: €2,600 gross a month on a 40-hour week = 2,600 × 12 ÷ 52 ÷ 40 = €15.00/hour. The same on a 36-hour week = €16.67/hour. So €2,600 can be less AND more than the €15.20 hourly offer — it depends on what the listing didn’t say. If the weekly hours aren’t in the listing, ask before you compare anything.
For reference: the €14.99 minimum works out to roughly €2,337 gross a month on a 36-hour week and roughly €2,598 on a 40-hour week*¹.
Step 2: check what’s inside the gross figure and what isn’t
Next to the gross hourly rate, a Dutch payslip can have separate lines:
- Vakantiegeld (holiday allowance): by law at least 8% of gross pay, paid once a year (usually May) or — often for agency workers — weekly or monthly. If a listing quotes an hourly rate “including vakantiegeld”, it’s about 8% less than it looks.
- Toeslag (shift allowance): evening, night and weekend premiums — the rate depends on the client company’s CAO (in logistics and food processing typically 25–50% for certain hours)*². Of two identical hourly rates, the better one is the one that pays a premium on your shift.
- ADV / extra days off: according to the client’s CAO. As an agency worker, since 1 January 2026 you’re entitled to a package equivalent to the client’s own staff — see our article on the phase system.
Step 3: deductions decide — especially with housing
This is where most comparisons flip. Two identical hourly rates leave completely different net amounts if one agency deducts housing and insurance and the other doesn’t.
Worth knowing: from the minimum wage, an employer may deduct only two things, with your consent: housing (at most 25% of the minimum wage) and the health-insurance premium. Other deductions (fines, workwear, “administration”) cannot come out of the part below the minimum wage — that’s the Wet aanpak schijnconstructies rule. If you see such a line on your payslip, it isn’t legal.
So with a housing offer the question is: how much is the housing per week, and what’s included (utilities, internet, how many people per room). A €15.20 rate with €100/week housing often leaves less than a €14.99 rate where you rent your own place — or more. Only numbers can settle it, not gut feeling.
Step 4: watch for the “ET-regeling” line
Many agencies apply the ET exchange (ET-uitruil): part of your gross wage is swapped for tax-free reimbursements (housing, travel, double household). Your net may be a bit higher — but your gross goes down, and with it the basis for your vakantiegeld, sick pay, unemployment benefit and pension. It’s not illegal, but you need to know about it: if one of two offers “has a higher net”, ask whether that’s with or without the ET exchange. Always compare gross hourly rates without ET.
Step 5: work it out for one week
Write one line for each offer:
(gross hourly rate × weekly hours) + allowances − housing − insurance = weekly remainder.
That’s not your exact net (tax and tax credits come on top), but between two offers this line shows the real difference. If a listing doesn’t give one of the factors, that’s not “we’ll see later” — it’s a missing number you should ask for before you sign.
What to do now
- Ask in writing for both offers: gross hourly rate, weekly hours, allowances, weekly housing cost and what’s included, and whether there’s an ET exchange.
- Convert both to a gross hourly rate with the formula above — if either is below €14.99 (age 21+), it isn’t legal.
- Check the pay, hours-per-week and housing fields of listings on jobSCAN: where the advertiser filled them in, you can run the calculation straight away; where it says “no data”, you need to ask.
Related listings: Current listings on jobSCAN →
* Notes — where no exact or citable figure exists:
*¹ Our own calculation from the €14.99 hourly rate (× weekly hours × 52 ÷ 12); the official reference monthly wage from 1 July 2026 is €2,337.00 (36-hour week).
*² Indicative range, not quoted from a specific CAO; the actual premium depends on the client company’s CAO and may be lower or higher.
Sources: Rijksoverheid — Bedragen minimumloon 2026 (2026) · Flexnieuws — Per 1 juli 2026 stijgt het wettelijk minimumuurloon naar € 14,99 (2026-04) · Rijksoverheid — Vakantiegeld: hoogte en uitbetaling (continuously updated) · Rijksoverheid / Inspectie SZW — Wet aanpak schijnconstructies: inhoudingen op het minimumloon (in force since 2017-01-01) · ABU — CAO voor Uitzendkrachten 2026–2028 (2026-01)
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