Hiring Agency Workers: Dutch Chain Liability, Checks and Wav Fines

It is 06:40 on a Tuesday at a distribution centre near Venlo. Two inspectors from the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) are at the gate. They ask the site manager who is on the early shift, and what the site checked before each person started.

Most of the early shift comes through a staffing agency, so the site manager gives the answer that feels obvious: "The agency handles all of that." The next question is not about the agency. It is about what the site itself did.

Under Dutch rules, "the agency handles it" is not enough. The company where an agency worker actually works is the hirer (inlener in Dutch), and it has duties of its own.

This article draws on Radius Hire's 2026 research paper on frontline hiring handoffs and official Dutch sources, and labels each point as law, fining policy, guidance or our reading.

Can a hirer get a work permit fine for an agency worker?

Yes, the hirer can be fined, not only the agency. The Wav, the Dutch Foreign Nationals Employment Act, forbids an employer to have a foreign national work in the Netherlands without a required work permit (Article 2(1)). It defines an employer as anyone who, in the course of a business, profession or office, has another person perform work (Article 1). Both rules are law in force.

That definition reaches the hirer. The Act itself calls the company where the work is actually done "another employer" (Article 15). The Raad van State, the highest court for these fines, has held that whoever actually has a foreign national perform work is an employer under the Wav, contract or not (ruling of 24 October 2012). Labour Authority guidance agrees: a hired-in worker can have two employers, the agency and the hirer.

There is one statutory exception. The ban does not apply to the hirer if the agency holds a valid work permit for that work, or the worker holds a combined residence and work permit for it (Article 2(2)).

How much is the Wav fine?

For a company, the standard fine is €6,000 per worker without a required permit. The amounts come from the Minister's fining policy (Beleidsregel boeteoplegging Wet arbeid vreemdelingen 2025), set under Wav Article 19d(6) and applied since 1 February 2025, unchanged on 20 October 2026.

The policy then adjusts each fine:

For a company, that gives €2,250 to €11,250 per worker before any repeat increase. Where the employer is not to blame at all, no fine is imposed. Fines count per worker and per violation, and are added up (Wav Article 19a(2); policy Article 11).

A worked example, for illustration only: three agency workers on site without a required permit cost a company 3 × €6,000 = €18,000 at normal blame and seriousness. With gross negligence, each fine becomes €7,500, so €22,500.

One development to watch. In July 2025 the government announced that Wav fines would rise by about 18 percent, with yearly indexation. By 20 October 2026 we found no amended fining policy, and the Labour Authority still gave €6,000. Check the current amount before you rely on it.

Can the fine be higher for a repeat offence?

Yes, so €11,250 is not a ceiling. Article 19d of the Wav, law in force, raises the fine where an earlier fine for the same or a similar violation has become final:

Under a government decree, the Besluit uitvoering Wav 2022, a violation is serious when at least 20 workers are involved (Articles 10.1(3) and 10.2). Working without a required permit and missing the 48-hour identity duty count as similar violations (Article 10.3).

The Labour Authority's fines page mentions "50, 100 or 200 percent". Neither the Act nor the 2025 fining policy has a 50 percent repeat increase, so we follow the Act.

Who needs a work permit?

Not every agency worker needs one. Rijksoverheid guidance says nationals of the Netherlands, the other EEA countries (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland need no work permit.

The Wav does not name these countries. It exempts anyone for whom treaty rules or binding international decisions do not allow a permit to be required (Article 3(1)(a)). For EU nationals, that is EU free movement of workers; in our reading, the EEA Agreement and the EU-Swiss free movement agreement do the same for EEA and Swiss nationals. Others may need a permit unless an exception applies, such as a residence permit stating that work is freely allowed.

Where a permit is needed, Rijksoverheid says the agency applies for it and sends copies of the ID and permit to the hirer. Good practice: ask for those copies before the first shift, or for written confirmation that no permit is needed.

What must the hirer check itself before an agency worker starts?

The worker's identity, on the original document, even if the agency has already checked. Government guidance (Rijksoverheid) says the hirer checks the original ID itself before the worker starts, and keeps no copy, because the agency is the employer. Ondernemersplein, the government's portal for businesses, adds that the hirer records the worker's personal details.

How binding is this? For workers from the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, no Act makes this check a stand-alone duty of the hirer. The payroll-tax rule to establish identity from an ID document and keep a copy binds the employer that pays the wages (Wage Tax Act 1964, Article 28(1)(f)): the agency. In our reading, three rules still make the hirer's own check necessary in practice:

Which documents count?

Ondernemersplein lists a passport, a Dutch identity card, an identity card or passport from an EEA country, or a Dutch residence document; not a driving licence or a copy. For the Wav copy duties, the 48-hour duty and the payroll-tax check this is law: they accept only points 1 to 3 of Article 1(1) of the Identification Duty Act (Wet op de identificatieplicht), not the driving licence in point 4. For the hirer's check of EU workers it is guidance, and in our reading the sensible standard.

Why check twice?

Because the rules ask both the agency and the site to check. Radius Hire's research paper treats this as a handoff worth keeping: make the second check quick and clear, do not remove it.

For who may keep a copy of the ID, and for how long, see GDPR for recruitment agencies: ID copies, privacy notices and clients.

What extra duties apply for workers from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland?

Article 15 of the Wav, law in force, adds duties around the ID copy:

The agency's copy duty does not apply to nationals of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, unless EU free movement rules for workers do not apply to them (Article 15(3)). In our reading, the hirer's filing and keeping duties then do not arise either, because they attach to that copy, which matches the guidance. The fining policy's notes add that the duties also apply when a non-EU worker legally needs no permit.

Can these duties be fined too?

Yes: a standard €1,500 per worker for a company, €750 for a natural person in business. Two counting rules soften this. Missing both the filing and the keeping for one worker is one violation (policy Article 3). And if no one worked without a required permit and no 48-hour violation was found, several Article 15 violations are reduced to the fine for one (policy Article 4).

Does a contract with the agency protect the hirer from chain liability under the Wav?

Not on its own, because each employer in the chain answers for its own part. The fining policy's notes say that, in principle, the whole chain is fined, and that the Labour Authority looks at the measures each employer took.

A contract still matters, because it affects how much you are to blame. The notes expect every employer in the chain, agencies and hirers included, to agree in writing how the Wav will be met: ID checks, permits and passing on ID copies. Agreements alone are not enough: each employer must regularly make sure the company it uses keeps meeting the Wav. Working with an agency that holds a recognised quality certificate can count in the hirer's favour.

Radius Hire's research paper recommends agreeing in writing who owns each handoff. Good practice for these checks:

How can a hirer make these checks fast without skipping them?

Prepare them the day before, with one owner per check. The research paper's position is that required checks should be made fast and clear, never automated away:

In the paper's words, any tool that makes verification reusable should be assessed against these duties. It does not replace them.

Where does the Wtta come in?

The Wtta adds a separate check on the agency itself. The Wtta (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten), the Dutch law on admission for labour providers, is enacted with future start dates. From 1 January 2027, a hirer must record which provider supplies each worker, no later than the day the placement starts (Waadi, Article 12d, future text). From 1 January 2028, hirers may only hire in from providers with admission or an exemption, unless a legal exception applies (Nederlandse Autoriteit Uitleenmarkt). The hirer's checks on each worker stay in place.

For the full timeline and the hirer's record duty, see Wtta: what companies that hire agency workers must do in 2027 and 2028.

For direct hires, Verifying Frontline Candidates: Which Identity, Right to Work and Certificate Checks Can Happen Before the Offer? covers what can be checked before the offer.

How Radius helps

Radius Hire is an AI hiring platform for frontline roles, built in Amsterdam for staffing agencies and employers who hire for the work floor. It is built to source, interview and verify applicants, while a person makes every hiring decision. On Radius for agencies, each verification check keeps its source and its date. The Radius ATS is built to keep messages, notes, the interview and the contract on one candidate record, per role, site and client. That gives agency and site one place to prepare a first shift. The hirer's own check of the original ID stays with a person at your site, and your advisers decide whether your process meets the law.