If you hire a working student, you become an employer in the legal sense. Before the first working day you check identity and right to work, put the terms in writing, pay at least the minimum wage plus holiday allowance, and arrange payroll taxes and health and safety. Below: the steps as listed by Ondernemersplein (the Dutch government's business portal) and the Dutch government.
The checklist in short
- Check an original, valid identity document and whether the person may work in the Netherlands, before the first working day [1]
- Keep a legible copy of the identity document in your records [1]
- Make sure the payroll-tax details, the copy of the identity document and the payroll record are in your administration before the employee starts [2]
- Put the terms in writing and give the mandatory information in writing within one week and within one month [3]
- Pay at least the statutory minimum wage and holiday allowance [2]
- Comply with the Working Conditions Act: a health and safety policy, a basic contract with an occupational health service and a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) [2]
- Remit payroll taxes and contributions and check that the employee has Dutch health insurance [2]
- Check whether you must offer a pension scheme, for example through an industry pension fund or a collective agreement [2]
How do you check identity?
The business portal calls this the verification duty. You ask for an original, valid identity document, such as a passport, a Dutch identity card, an identity card or passport from an EEA country or a Dutch residence document. A driving licence or a copy is not valid proof [1]. You then keep a copy in your records for at least five years after the calendar year in which the employee leaves. You must tell the employee what you use the copy for and how they can black out data you don't need [1]. What you may and may not ask before someone is hired is covered in our article on job interviews.
Can any student work for you?
People with Dutch nationality or the nationality of another EEA country or Switzerland may work without a work permit [1]. For students from outside the EEA with a residence permit for study, the employer needs an employment permit (TWV). According to UWV, such a working student may work at most 16 hours a week, or full-time in June, July and August, at a market-rate wage [4]. Read more in our article on working as an international student.
What must you put in writing?
An employment contract may be written or oral, but written is wise. Within one week of the start date you must give in writing, among other things, the names and places of residence, the place of work, the job, the start date, the duration of a fixed-term contract, the hours, the salary and any probation period. Within one month follow, among other things, the holiday allowance, the number of holiday days, the notice period, any pension scheme and non-compete clause and the applicable collective agreement [3]. The Dutch government points out that the duty to inform has been extended by the EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions; read the current list on the government page [3].
What do you pay at minimum?
From age 21 the statutory minimum hourly wage applies, from 15 to 20 the youth minimum wage, and you pay holiday allowance [2]. As of 1 July 2026 the minimum hourly wage from age 21 is € 14.99 gross [5]. Our article on the minimum wage for working students lists all amounts by age.
What about payroll taxes?
You give the employee the form Model opgaaf gegevens voor de loonheffingen. The employee uses it to state, among other things, whether you apply the payroll tax credit, and students can use the form for the student and pupil scheme [6]. The Tax Administration explains the conditions and amounts for that scheme. As an employer you withhold payroll tax and remit contributions for employee and national insurance schemes [2].
Health and safety and insurance
The employee must be able to work safely and healthily. You need a health and safety policy, a basic contract with an occupational health service and, from one employee, an RI&E, which the Dutch Labour Authority checks and can fine you for [2]. If the employee has no Dutch health insurance, the CAK arranges one and you withhold the premium from the wage [2].
What does VOIDS do, and what doesn't it?
VOIDS supplies candidates through recruitment and selection. Under our general terms the client remains responsible for the final hiring decision [7]. The employer obligations in this article therefore rest with the organisation that employs the working student.
Sources
- Ondernemersplein (Rijksoverheid): ID-bewijs controleren en bewaren, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Ondernemersplein (Rijksoverheid): Stappenplan personeel aannemen, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Rijksoverheid: Wat staat er in een arbeidsovereenkomst?, accessed 11 October 2026.
- UWV: Werkvergunning werkstudent, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Rijksoverheid (2026): Bedragen minimumloon 2026, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Belastingdienst: Ik werk in loondienst, accessed 11 October 2026.
- VOIDS: Algemene voorwaarden, accessed 11 October 2026.
Transparency: VOIDS connects working students with organisations and therefore has an interest in this topic. We back up facts with sources and connect research and trends to our own experience from practice.
