Do you work as a self-employed plasterer for a finishing company? This is what changes after 31 December 2026

From 31 December 2026 the presumption of employment applies. If you work as a self-employed plasterer for a finishing company or contractor at an hourly rate no higher than the threshold, you are presumed to be its employee. The threshold is € 38 an hour (as of 1 January 2026), the amount for 31 December 2026 has yet to be published.

In the finishing trades this comes on top of rules that already exist. Since 1 September 2026 a finishing company that hires self-employed workers uses the Afbouw model agreement and checks your VCA and your insurance. That model agreement concerns payroll taxes. It does not protect against the presumption.

In this article

1. What changes on 31 December 2026?
2. Which hourly rate counts if you work per m² or per job?
3. Does the presumption also apply if you plaster for private customers?
4. What must the finishing company already arrange under the Afbouw collective agreement?
5. Does the Afbouw model agreement protect against the presumption?
6. What do you get if the court finds you are an employee?
7. Why does the legislator watch false self-employment in construction?
8. What do you and the finishing company arrange before 31 December 2026?

What changes on 31 December 2026?

The Civil Code gets a new article 7:610aa. Anyone who works for another party for pay of no more than the threshold per hour is presumed to do that work under an employment contract (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158). The act takes effect on 31 December 2026 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207).

A legal presumption is a starting point in law that the other party must rebut. If you as a self-employed worker want to be an employee and the finishing company does not, you can go to court. The company must then prove that it is in fact an independent assignment (KVK, legal presumption).

A low rate is not prohibited. Anyone working below the threshold does not automatically become an employee (KVK, legal presumption). The presumption only works between you and your client, before the civil court. A pension fund or a union cannot invoke it in its own name either, only on your behalf (explanatory memorandum, parliamentary paper 36 783, no. 3, section 4.3.2).

Which hourly rate counts if you work per m² or per job?

The amount you actually receive for your work, without VAT, divided by the hours that belong directly to the job. The act states € 36 an hour. That amount rises with the minimum wage and has been € 38 an hour since 1 January 2026 (Ondernemersplein). For the first application the minister sets the amount in a ministerial regulation (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158, article III).

Mind the wording. The act speaks of no more than the threshold, while Ondernemersplein and the KVK write lower than € 38 (Ondernemersplein). On 28 October 2026 the regulation with the amount for 31 December 2026 had not yet been published. So do not sit just above the threshold.

Costs that belong directly to the assignment are deducted first. The explanatory memorandum mentions material costs, the hire of equipment you rent specially for that job and hiring someone else (explanatory memorandum, section 4.4.2). For a plasterer these are the plaster, a machine or scaffold hired for that job and a colleague you bring in.

Other costs are not deducted. Insurance premiums, training, administration and equipment you use for several jobs, such as your van and your own plastering machine, are already included in the threshold (explanatory memorandum, section 4.4.2). So your liability insurance premium and your VCA course do not count. Preparation and buying materials do count as hours, travel time from home to the site does not.

Does the presumption also apply if you plaster for private customers?

No. The article does not apply if the client is a natural person who is not acting in the course of a profession or business (article 7:610aa(3) Civil Code). Plastering a living room for a homeowner therefore falls outside it, even at a low rate.

If a private person does act in a business capacity, the presumption does apply. The memorandum gives the example of a landlord who hires someone for maintenance of the property (explanatory memorandum, section 4.4.4). For a plasterer it therefore mainly matters with finishing companies, contractors, landlords and other business clients.

What must the finishing company already arrange under the Afbouw collective agreement?

A finishing company covered by the Afbouw collective agreement must check whether you really are self-employed. The agreement names three requirements: you are an entrepreneur for income tax, you are registered with the Chamber of Commerce and you organise your own work, for your own account and risk with a prospect of profit (Afbouw collective agreement, article 1(14), Government Gazette 2026, 11596).

Since 1 September 2026 the company must also comply in substance with the Afbouw model agreement when hiring self-employed workers. It then checks, among other things, your VCA or Afbouw safety certificate and liability cover of at least € 2,500,000 per event. At the request of the Technisch Bureau Afbouw foundation the company must show that it has done so (Government Gazette 2026, 22163, article 6(3) to (6)).

Those articles have been declared generally binding. This means the minister also applies them to finishing companies that are not members of the employers' organisation (Government Gazette 2026, 22163). The provisions are generally binding until 31 December 2027 (Government Gazette 2026, 11596, dictum II).

Does the Afbouw model agreement protect against the presumption?

No. The tax authority only assessed the model agreement on whether the client must withhold payroll taxes. The assessment explicitly does not cover the Civil Code and employment law (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, explanation point 6). The presumption is in the Civil Code.

Even for payroll taxes the contract only gives certainty as long as you and the finishing company really work as it says. The model agreement can be used until 31 December 2029. The tax authority no longer assesses new agreements (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement).

What it contains does help in court, because it describes how a self-employed person works. You organise your own work, without supervision or direction. The finishing company may give instructions about the result, not about how you plaster. You use your own transport, tools, clothing and materials, you may arrange a replacement and you are free to work for others (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, articles 2 and 3).

The explanation to the contract warns about two situations. If you fill in on an hourly basis for a sick employee and are directed in the same way, employment quickly arises. And there must be no chain of consecutive assignments with the same company (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, explanation).

What do you get if the court finds you are an employee?

The rights of an employee. If the company cannot prove that there is no employment contract, you can claim rights such as continued pay during sickness and protection against dismissal (Ondernemersplein). If it concerns a clearly defined assignment, the scope of the employment contract generally follows it (explanatory memorandum, section 4.4.5).

In a finishing company the Afbouw collective agreement then applies. A plasterer who does all kinds of plastering is in job group 4b. From 1 February 2026 the guaranteed wage is € 20.06 an hour without relevant work experience, rising to € 24.31 an hour with 4 years of experience (Government Gazette 2026, 11596, annex 2). A full-time working week is 37.5 hours.

For the finishing company such a ruling can reach further than one person. UWV, the tax authority and the Labour Inspectorate cannot invoke the presumption themselves. If the court has established an employment contract after the presumption was invoked, they can rely on that (explanatory memorandum, section 4.6). The company must then pay payroll taxes.

In addition, the tax authority already enforces against false self-employment. Since 1 January 2026 the tax authority can impose penalties for intent or gross negligence. In 2026 there are no default penalties yet, and back assessments as a rule go no further back than 1 January 2025 (Belastingdienst, enforcement). From 1 January 2027 that last part of the soft landing also ends (Letter to Parliament, parliamentary paper 31 311, no. 302).

Why does the legislator watch false self-employment in construction?

Because false self-employment in construction can distort competition. Researchers Behling and Harvey described British construction in 2015, with an exceptionally high share of false self-employment. They link this to unclear rules on employment status and a separate tax regime for construction (Behling and Harvey, 2015).

They speak of degenerative competition: genuine employment and genuine self-employment are driven out by false self-employment. According to them this leads to substantial tax losses, too little training of new tradespeople and low productivity (Behling and Harvey, 2015). It concerns the United Kingdom, with a different system from the Dutch one.

The Dutch cabinet chose an hourly rate as a signal. The amount is derived from what an employee in the same wage category costs, with a mark-up for the costs of a self-employed worker (explanatory memorandum, section 4.4). The cabinet itself calls that a rough approximation: false self-employment can exist above the threshold too.

What do you and the finishing company arrange before 31 December 2026?

Calculate your hourly rate per job, without VAT and without plaster, and count preparation and purchasing as hours. Agree a price per m² or a fixed sum for a defined piece of work. The Afbouw model agreement has an annex for that, with the work, the location, the start, the completion and the price (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, annex job description).

Put the fixed sentence in your agreement. Without the reference to the assessment of 29 September 2022 under number 908202110378410, the contract gives no certainty for payroll taxes. Nobody may change the marked articles (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, explanation points 7 and 8).

Be able to show that you work for several clients. The explanation to the contract says that no single client may structurally account for the largest part of your turnover (Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement, explanation). The tax authority also weighs how many clients you have and how long you usually work for one client (Belastingdienst, when is there employment).

For the finishing company the tax authority's question is a good test. Can the company decide how, when, where and with whom you work, or how many hours a week? If the answer is yes once or more, that is a strong indication of authority (Belastingdienst, when is there employment). Authority means that the client can direct you the way an employer directs an employee.

Sources

• Act of 18 June 2026 amending Book 7 of the Civil Code to introduce a presumption of an employment contract based on an hourly rate, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Decree of 13 July 2026 setting the date of entry into force, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Explanatory memorandum, parliamentary paper 36 783, no. 3. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• KVK, Are you really self-employed with an hourly rate below 38 euros? (Ben je wel zelfstandig met een uurtarief lager dan 38 euro?), updated 7 October 2026. kvk.nl
• Ondernemersplein, Low hourly rate of a self-employed worker can lead to an employment contract, accessed 28 October 2026. ondernemersplein.overheid.nl
• Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Declaration of provisions of the Afbouw collective agreement as generally binding, 14 April 2026, Government Gazette 2026, 11596. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Declaration of amended provisions of the Afbouw collective agreement as generally binding, 15 July 2026, Government Gazette 2026, 22163, article 6. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Belastingdienst, Afbouw model agreement (NOA, FNV and CNV Vakmensen), no. 908202110378410, assessed 29 September 2022, accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, When is there employment? (Wanneer is sprake van loondienst?), accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Enforcement of employment relationships, accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• State Secretary for Finance, Letter to Parliament on the soft landing, 19 December 2025, parliamentary paper 31 311, no. 302. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Behling, F. and Harvey, M. (2015). The evolution of false self-employment in the British construction industry: a neo-Polanyian account of labour market formation. Work, Employment and Society, 29(6), 969-988. doi.org