On-call contracts under Dutch employment law
An on-call contract (oproepcontract) is an employment agreement in which the employee works only when called upon by the employer. Dutch law recognises two main forms: the zero-hours contract (nulurencontract), in which no minimum hours are guaranteed, and the min-max contract (min-maxcontract), in which a minimum number of hours is guaranteed with a higher maximum. Both forms are regulated under Article 7:628a of the Dutch Civil Code and the Balanced Labour Market Act (Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans, WAB).
On-call employees enjoy standard employment rights notwithstanding their flexible working arrangement. These include entitlement to the statutory minimum wage, annual leave, holiday allowance, and protection against unfair dismissal. The on-call employee cannot be forced to accept every call - refusal without reasonable cause may, however, have contractual consequences.
The four-day notice rule under Dutch employment law
A key protection introduced by the WAB is the four-day advance notice rule. The employer must call the employee at least four calendar days in advance. If the employer cancels or changes a call within this four-day period, the employee is entitled to the wages for the original hours scheduled. This wage protection prevents last-minute cancellations without financial consequence for the employer.
The four-day period may be reduced to a shorter period by collective labour agreement (CAO), but not to less than 24 hours. Individual contracts cannot reduce the notice period.
The Flexibility and Security Act of 1999 first introduced legal protections for on-call workers, including the presumption provision of Article 7:610a of the Dutch Civil Code: any person who performs work for at least 20 hours per month over three consecutive months is presumed to work under an employment contract, shifting the burden of proof to the employer to demonstrate otherwise. Where a call employment contract has been in force for at least three months without a precisely specified number of hours, Article 7:610b of the Dutch Civil Code presumes that the contracted work in any month equals the average of the three preceding months - a protection that prevents employers from cutting hours without warning.
Transition to a fixed-hours contract under Dutch law
After 12 months of on-call employment, the employer must offer a contract with a fixed number of hours. The offered hours must match the average of the preceding 12 months. The employee may decline the offer. If the employer fails to make the offer, the employee acquires the right to claim wages corresponding to the average hours worked, even for periods without a formal call. Employment lawyers advise both employers and on-call workers on the procedural and financial implications of these obligations.