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Do you second your own IT staff? How the licence under the Wtta works, and does the ABU agreement apply to you?

If your people work at a client under the client's direction, you are lending staff. From 2028 that is only allowed with a licence or exemption. You can register for the transitional scheme from 1 November to 31 December 2026.

9 min read

Many IT companies employ developers, testers or consultants who work at one client for months. They sit in the client's team and the client decides how and when they work. Then you are lending workers, even if you call it secondment.

A new act is coming for lending workers, the Act on licensing the provision of workers, or Wtta. From 1 January 2028 you may only lend workers with a licence or an exemption. The first moment to act is now: you can register for the transitional scheme from 1 November to 31 December 2026.

In short

  • If your people work at the client under the client's supervision and direction, you are lending staff. If you carry out a project yourself and direct it yourself, you are not.
  • From 1 January 2028 lending staff without a licence or exemption is prohibited. Registering for the transitional scheme is possible from 1 November to 31 December 2026, the application follows from 1 May to 30 June 2027.
  • A licence requires a deposit of € 100,000. If lending is less than 10% of your turnover and at most € 5,000,000, you can get an exemption. Whether the ABU agreement applies to you depends on your payroll.

In this article

  1. When does an IT company lend workers?
  2. What do you already need to arrange now?
  3. What changes with the Wtta, and when?
  4. What does registering for the transitional scheme give you?
  5. Which requirements apply to a licence?
  6. Can you get an exemption if you only second staff now and then?
  7. Does the ABU agreement apply to your seconded IT staff?

When does an IT company lend workers?

When your employee works for someone else for payment, under that party's supervision and direction, while remaining employed by you. That is how the law describes providing workers (Waadi, article 1(1)(c)). Secondment and payrolling also fall under it (NAU, do you need to apply for a licence?).

If you take on work or the client outsources work to you, you are not lending staff (NAU, do you need to apply for a licence?). The difference is who directs the work. If your team builds an application for a fixed price and you decide the approach and planning yourself, it is your project. If your developer takes part in the client's sprints and the client's product owner gives the assignments, he works under the client's direction.

There is no official interpretation for IT. It depends on how things work in practice, not on what the contract says. There is no legal exception for IT or consultancy either. If companies within the same group lend people to each other, no licence is needed (NAU, do you need to apply for a licence?).

Such a firm turns an ordinary employment relationship into a triangle. Research on labour market intermediaries describes them as parties that stand between the worker and the organisation that needs the work done, such as agencies that lease labour to clients (Bonet, Cappelli & Hamori, 2013). Precisely because there are three parties, the law places duties on both the lender and the hirer.

What do you already need to arrange now?

A registration in the KVK trade register. Anyone who lends workers must be registered with the activity of providing workers. A client may also not work with lent staff from a company without that registration (Waadi, article 7a).

The fine for a violation is € 8,000 for fewer than 10 lent workers, € 16,000 for 10 to 30 and € 32,000 for 30 or more. These amounts apply to the lender and also to the hirer. A bv that only lends its own director, who holds 90% or more of the shares, gets no fine (Waadi fines policy rule 2014). The registration requirement lapses once the Labour Inspectorate enforces the licence, from 1 January 2028 (Bulletin of Acts 2026, 159).

Your client also watches something else. As hirer, the client is jointly and severally liable for the payroll tax you owe on the lent employee, and for the VAT on the lending (Collection of State Taxes Act 1990, article 34). Many clients therefore ask for a payment behaviour statement or pay part into a blocked g-account.

What changes with the Wtta, and when?

The act takes effect in steps. On 1 January 2027 the licensing system starts. From then on you must notify your client in writing or electronically before the start that the employee is a lent worker. You record in your own administration that you are lending him and to whom, and you keep that for 7 years after the year in which the lending ends (Waadi, article 12c(2) to (5)).

On 1 January 2028 the ban on lending and the ban on hiring take effect. From then on you may only lend workers with a licence or an exemption, and your client may only hire from a company that has one. Until then the emphasis is on information (Bulletin of Acts 2026, 159). The Netherlands Labour Inspectorate enforces from 1 January 2028 (NAU, toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl).

nowRegistration with the KVK as lenderrequired under the Waadi until 1 January 2028Nov and Dec 2026Register for the transitional scheme1 November to 31 December, with the NAU1 Jan 2027Licensing system startsnotify the client and record it in your administrationMay and Jun 2027Apply for a licence or exemption1 May to 30 June 20271 Jul 2027NAU assesses the applicationsapplied in time: lending allowed until the decision1 Jan 2028Ban on lending and hiringwithout licence or exemption, Labour Inspectorate enforces
The steps of the Wtta for an IT company that seconds staff. Source: Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority, Bulletin of Acts 2026, 159 and Waadi, articles 12c and 23b.

What does registering for the transitional scheme give you?

Time. Lenders can register from 1 November to 31 December 2026 through the website of the Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority (NAU). You submit the real application afterwards, from 1 May to 30 June 2027. From 1 July 2027 the NAU assesses the applications (NAU, toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl).

The application must include a report from an inspection body. If you notified before 1 January 2027 that you will apply, you may supply that report as soon as possible after the application instead of with it. If you submit the application within six months after 1 January 2027 and no decision has been made by 1 January 2028, the ban on lending only applies to you from the decision (Waadi, article 23b).

The minister expected between 16,900 and 21,400 applications, with uncertainty (Parliamentary Papers II, 36 446, no. 93). So if you register early, you will not be alone in the queue.

Which requirements apply to a licence?

You must meet the standards framework of the act, have a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) and pay a deposit (NAU, requirements for a licence). An inspection body checks whether you meet the standards framework (NAU, toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl).

The deposit is € 100,000 for a licence and € 50,000 for a provisional licence (Waadi, article 12p). A new lender first gets a provisional licence of 6 months and tops up the deposit later. You only pay when the NAU intends to admit you (NAU, deposit).

On the first application you do not have to pay a deposit if on 31 December 2026 you had been registered with the KVK for 4 years without interruption, actually lent people in those 4 years and have a payment behaviour statement from the Belastingdienst no more than 3 months old (NAU, deposit). For an IT company that has seconded staff for years and pays properly, that saves € 100,000.

Can you get an exemption if you only second staff now and then?

Yes, if lending is a small part of your business. You get an exemption if you have paid wages for at least 12 months and your turnover from lending is less than 10% of your total turnover per 12 months and at most € 5,000,000 (Waadi, article 12e(1)).

Lending turnover as a share of total turnover€ 150,000 of € 2,000,0007.5%€ 250,000 of € 2,000,00012.5%Limit 10%: above it a licenceWorked example. Also required: 12 months of wages paid and at most € 5,000,000.
Worked example of an IT company with € 2,000,000 turnover. The amounts are an example. Source of the rule: Waadi, article 12e(1).

An example. A software company has € 2,000,000 turnover. Two employees work at clients under their direction, accounting for € 150,000 turnover. That is 7.5%, so below 10%, and the company can apply for an exemption. With € 250,000 lending turnover it is 12.5% and a licence is needed.

An exemption is not a free pass. You must supply data periodically, with a statement from an expert that the data are correct (Waadi, article 12e(2) and (3)). The notification and record-keeping duty from 2027 also applies to you.

Does the ABU agreement apply to your seconded IT staff?

That depends on your payroll. The ABU collective agreement for agency workers applies to an agency whose payroll for agency workers is at least 50% of total contributory wages per year (Collective Agreement for Agency Workers 2026-2028, article 1(1)). A secondment contract also falls under it: the agreement calls it an agency contract without an agency clause (Collective Agreement for Agency Workers 2026-2028, article 13(3)).

So if half or more of your payroll works at clients under their direction, you fall within its scope. If you are a member of the NBBU or the Association of Secondment Firms in the Netherlands (VvDN), their own agreement applies, with nearly the same conditions. The agreement runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028 (Collective Agreement for Agency Workers 2026-2028, articles 1 and 3).

Not confirmed

On 31 October 2026 this agreement is not generally binding. The previous declaration ran until 2 January 2023 (Government Gazette 2022, 18667). The ABU applied for a new one in June 2026. The ministry has not yet decided. If you are not a member, three things apply anyway: the StiPP pension (compulsory participation, Government Gazette 2025, 13887), the Whk premium of sector 52 and equal pay with the client. What a seconded IT professional then costs, you can calculate on the cost page for the Agency Workers cao.

Ordinary IT companies have no generally binding agreement of their own. For a company that mainly carries out projects itself, the ABU agreement therefore does not apply. For an IT secondment firm it does, and then the terms of that agreement apply to your seconded people.

Sources

  • Placement of Personnel by Intermediaries Act (Waadi), articles 1, 7a, 12c, 12e, 12p and 23b, version in force from 1 July 2026, with the amendments from the Wtta. wetten.overheid.nl
  • Decree of 24 June 2026 on the entry into force of the Act on licensing the provision of workers, Bulletin of Acts 2026, 159. officielebekendmakingen.nl
  • Act on licensing the provision of workers, Bulletin of Acts 2025, 385. officielebekendmakingen.nl
  • Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority, toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl (timeline), accessed 31 October 2026. toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl
  • Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority, Do you need to apply for a licence?, accessed 31 October 2026. toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl
  • Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority, What are the requirements for a licence?, accessed 31 October 2026. toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl
  • Netherlands Labour Market Lending Authority, Deposit, accessed 31 October 2026. toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl
  • Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, letter of 29 June 2026, Parliamentary Papers II, 36 446, no. 93. officielebekendmakingen.nl
  • Waadi fines policy rule 2014, version in force from 2 April 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
  • Collection of State Taxes Act 1990, article 34, version in force from 1 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
  • ABU, Collective Agreement for Agency Workers 2026-2028, web version May 2026. abu.nl
  • Bonet, R., Cappelli, P. & Hamori, M. (2013). Labor market intermediaries and the new paradigm for human resources. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 341-392. doi.org
  • Generally binding declaration Agency Workers cao, Government Gazette 2022, 18667 (ran until 2 January 2023). officielebekendmakingen.nl
  • Compulsory participation in the StiPP pension fund, Government Gazette 2025, 13887. officielebekendmakingen.nl

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