Claiming unpaid wages in the Netherlands
When an employer fails to pay wages on time, the employee has the right to claim the outstanding amount plus a statutory increase (wettelijke verhoging) under Article 7:625 of the Dutch Civil Code. This increase accrues automatically from the fourth working day after the date on which the salary should have been paid: 5% per day for the fourth through eighth working day, then 1% per day for each subsequent working day, up to a maximum of 50% of the overdue amount (Article 7:625 of the Dutch Civil Code). The Hoge Raad has held that judges must be reticent in moderating this increase and must provide reasons if they do so. The employee may additionally claim statutory interest (wettelijke rente) under Article 6:119 of the Dutch Civil Code on top of the statutory increase; courts may not mitigate statutory interest.
The statutory increase serves as both a penalty for the employer and an incentive for timely wage payment. Dutch courts have the discretionary power to moderate the increase if they consider it equitable in the circumstances, and in practice courts often reduce it to 10%–25% in cases where the employer had a plausible reason for the delay.
Procedure for a wage claim in the Netherlands
An employee can bring a wage claim before the subdistrict court (kantonrechter). Wage claims up to €25,000 may be filed without legal representation, though engaging an employment lawyer is advisable. For urgent cases - for instance, where an employer has stopped paying wages entirely - the employee can request interim relief (kort geding), which allows the court to order immediate payment within weeks.
In addition to the statutory increase, the employee can claim statutory interest (wettelijke rente) on the overdue amount. The employer may also be ordered to pay the employee's legal costs if the claim is successful.
Limitation period for wage claims in the Netherlands
The limitation period (verjaringstermijn) for wage claims is five years from the date the wages were due, pursuant to Article 3:308 of the Dutch Civil Code. For holiday allowance and accrued but untaken annual leave, the same five-year period applies. The employee should interrupt the limitation period by sending a written demand (stuitingsbrief) before the deadline expires. In employer insolvency, the General Unemployment Fund (Algemeen Werkloosheidsfonds) guarantees recovery of up to 13 weeks of unpaid wages preceding termination, up to six weeks of notice-period pay, and one year of accrued holiday pay, subject to an annual cap of approximately EUR 76,000 (as from 2016) under Articles 61-68 of the Unemployment Benefits Act (UBA).