On-call and flexible staff in hospitality: what is allowed now, and what changes in 2028?

In hospitality you now call up an on-call worker at least 24 hours in advance. The law says 4 days, but the Hospitality cao allows 24 hours. You pay at least 3 hours' wages per call-up, and after 12 months you offer a fixed number of hours. For work that is truly incidental, the cao has the zero-hours stand-in: no pay when there is no work.

On 1 January 2028 the More Security for Flexible Workers Act comes into force. The zero-hours contract then disappears. In its place comes a contract with a minimum and a maximum number of hours. For pupils, students, under-18s and people over state pension age with a small side job, calling up remains possible. In addition, the current Hospitality cao ends on 31 December 2026, and a new cao is still being negotiated.

In this article

1. Which rules apply now to an on-call worker in your hospitality business?
2. What is a zero-hours stand-in, and when do you pay no wages?
3. What does the Hospitality cao provide for seasonal workers?
4. What happens to these cao rules after 31 December 2026?
5. What changes on 1 January 2028?
6. May you still call up pupils and students after 2028?
7. What happens to your current contracts and to agency workers?
8. Why does a predictable rota also pay off in hospitality?

Which rules apply now to an on-call worker in your hospitality business?

The law and the Hospitality cao together. Under the law you pay 3 hours' wages for every call-up of less than 3 hours under an on-call contract. The law also says that you call up at least 4 days in advance, but a cao may shorten that period to no less than 24 hours (Civil Code Book 7, article 628a, paragraphs 1 to 4).

The Hospitality cao does that. You call up at least 24 hours in advance. If you call up later, the employee does not have to come. If you cancel a call-up within those 24 hours or change the times, you pay the wages for that call-up. An on-call worker may turn down a call-up for other work, lessons, a test or an exam, if they report it in writing straight away or 24 hours in advance (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, article 3.5a, Government Gazette 2025, 10545).

Every 12 months you make an offer of a fixed number of hours within a month, at least the average of the last 12 months. The employee has a month to accept or reject it. An on-call worker has a notice period of 24 hours (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, articles 3.5b and 3.5c).

What is a zero-hours stand-in, and when do you pay no wages?

A zero-hours stand-in is an on-call worker for work that is incidental and has no fixed scope. The cao gives as examples standing in for a sick colleague and unexpected crowds because of the weather. The contract states no number of hours, but it does state the job and the pay (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, article 1.9a).

For a zero-hours stand-in you do not have to pay wages when there is no work, not even after the first 26 weeks. The cao bases this on article 7:628 paragraph 7 of the Civil Code (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, article 4.19). That article allows a cao to extend the period without pay when there is no work for jobs with incidental work without a fixed scope (Civil Code Book 7, article 628, paragraphs 5 to 7).

So only use the zero-hours stand-in for truly unpredictable work. If someone comes in every Friday and Saturday evening, the work is not incidental. State in the contract which job it is and that it concerns stand-in work.

What does the Hospitality cao provide for seasonal workers?

A shorter gap between temporary contracts. A seasonal worker does work that can be done for no more than nine months a year. For the chain rule (the rule that decides when successive temporary contracts become a permanent contract), a gap of no more than 3 months counts for a seasonal worker, instead of 6 months (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, articles 1.10 and 2.9).

A beach pavilion or terrace that only has seasonal work because of the weather can work with a seasonal worker Climate or nature. For that employee the 24-hour call-up period, pay on cancellation and the offer of fixed hours do not apply (Hospitality cao 2025-2026, articles 1.10a, 3.5a and 3.5b). The law allows this for jobs that exist for no more than nine months a year because of the climate or nature (article 7:628a, paragraph 11).

What happens to these cao rules after 31 December 2026?

That is not yet certain. The Hospitality cao has been declared generally binding until 31 December 2026. The decree lapses on 1 January 2027 (Government Gazette 2025, 10545, dicta II and V). Generally binding means that the cao also applies to employers who are not members of KHN.

KHN, CNV and De Horecabond started negotiations on a new cao on 19 October 2026. They will continue on 12 November (CNV, hospitality cao negotiations under way). Whether there will be a new cao on 1 January 2027, and whether it will again be declared generally binding, is not yet known.

That directly affects the on-call worker. The short 24-hour period and the zero-hours stand-in are only allowed because a cao provides for them. Without a cao the law's 4 days and the normal duty to continue paying wages apply. If you want certainty during a period without a generally binding cao, keep to the statutory 4 days until things are clear.

What changes on 1 January 2028?

The zero-hours contract disappears. The Senate approved the More Security for Flexible Workers Act on 7 July 2026. Instead of the zero-hours contract comes a contract with a minimum and a maximum number of hours (Rijksoverheid, 8 July 2026). The Act takes effect on 1 January 2028 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 206).

You then agree a minimum number of hours greater than zero, with a maximum of no more than 130% of that minimum, per period of no more than a quarter. You call up hours above the minimum at least 4 days in advance. A cao may shorten that period again, but not to less than 24 hours (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 205, new article 7:628ab, paragraphs 1 to 3).

An example. A waiter aged 24 who is not in education now works on call, an average of 12 hours a week. From 2028 you could for example agree 12 hours as the minimum, with a maximum of no more than 15.6 hours. In busy weeks you call up to that maximum. That is a worked example, not a figure from a source.

The basis of the zero-hours stand-in also changes. Paragraphs 5 to 8 of article 7:628, on which the cao bases the zero-hours stand-in, are repealed (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 205, article I, part D). Similar room for a cao then only exists in the new rules for small side jobs. That follows from the text of the Act. How the new Hospitality cao will deal with this is not yet known.

May you still call up pupils and students after 2028?

Yes, with a small side job. The exception applies to employees under 18, pupils, students and employees who have reached state pension age. With them you may agree in writing that there is no fixed number of hours (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 205, new article 7:628ac). The Rijksoverheid calls it an exception for side jobs of people with another main activity (Rijksoverheid, 8 July 2026).

The text of the Act refers to an average of no more than sixteen hours of work a week for the employer (new article 7:628ac, paragraph 1). Over which period that average runs is not stated in that paragraph. KHN writes that the exception is limited to an average of 16 hours a week on an annual basis, resulting in extra administration (KHN, letter to the cabinet of 27 July 2026). So keep track of the hours worked per week for each pupil or student, so that you can always show the average.

With this group you may agree in writing that there is no pay when there is no work during the first six months. A cao may extend that period for jobs with incidental work without a fixed scope (new article 7:628ac, paragraphs 5 to 7). That resembles the current zero-hours stand-in, but only for the group with a small side job.

If an employee no longer falls under the exception, for example after graduating or if the average becomes too high, the contract becomes a contract with a minimum and a maximum from that moment. The minimum is the average number of hours of the 12 months before (new article 7:628ac, paragraph 10). A student who graduates and stays therefore gets fixed minimum hours.

What happens to your current contracts and to agency workers?

An on-call contract that exists on 1 January 2028 automatically counts from that day as a contract with a minimum and a maximum, unless the exception for small side jobs applies. The minimum is the average number of hours of the 12 months before. You make the first offer of fixed hours 12 months after 1 January 2028 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 205, Transitional Act new Civil Code, article 228, paragraphs 1 to 3). Your 2027 rotas therefore determine the minimum.

The chain rule also changes. After 3 temporary contracts you may not give the same employee a temporary contract for 3 years (Rijksoverheid, 8 July 2026). For pupils and students who work no more than 16 hours a week, that gap stays 6 months (new article 7:668a, paragraph 11). For seasonal work a break of 3 months remains possible (SRA, 16 July 2026). Temporary contracts that you concluded before 1 January 2028 fall under the old rules (article 228, paragraph 4).

If you hire agency workers, something changes sooner. From 31 December 2026 agency workers must receive at least equivalent terms of employment to people who are regularly employed (Rijksoverheid, 8 July 2026). An agency worker in the dining room or kitchen may become more expensive as a result. Ask the agency about the new rates in good time.

Why does a predictable rota also pay off in hospitality?

Because changing rotas go together with more staff turnover in research. A US study followed 1,827 hourly workers in retail and food service. An unstable, changing schedule turned out to be a strong predictor of leaving the employer. Lower job satisfaction and more conflict between work and family explained part of that (Choper, Schneider and Harknett, 2022).

An earlier large survey of US hourly workers in the service sector found that unpredictable schedules go together with poorer sleep, psychological distress and less happiness. That association was stronger than the one with low pay (Schneider and Harknett, 2019). Both studies show an association, not a proven cause, and they concern the United States.

For a hospitality business this means: make the fixed base of the rota as large as turnover allows, and use call-ups for real peaks, sickness and bad or good weather. That also fits the rules from 2028, in which the minimum is the fixed base and the maximum the room for busy periods.

Sources

• Civil Code Book 7, article 628a, in force from 8 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Declaration of generally binding cao provisions Hospitality, 30 July 2025, Government Gazette 2025, 10545, articles 1.9a, 1.10, 1.10a, 2.9, 3.5a, 3.5b, 3.5c and 4.19 and dicta II and V. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Civil Code Book 7, article 628, in force from 8 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• CNV, Hospitality cao negotiations under way, 23 October 2026. cnv.nl
• Rijksoverheid, More security for people with a flexible contract, news release 8 July 2026. rijksoverheid.nl
• Decree of 13 July 2026 setting the date of entry into force of the More Security for Flexible Workers Act, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 206. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Act of 8 July 2026 amending Book 7 of the Civil Code and other acts (More Security for Flexible Workers Act), Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 205. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, Call to the cabinet: the glass is empty, letter of 27 July 2026, annex 1. khn.nl
• SRA, More Security for Flexible Workers Act adopted, 16 July 2026. sra.nl
• Choper, J., Schneider, D. and Harknett, K. (2022). Uncertain time: precarious schedules and job turnover in the US service sector. ILR Review, 75(5), 1099 to 1132. doi.org/10.1177/00197939211048484
• Schneider, D. and Harknett, K. (2019). Consequences of routine work-schedule instability for worker health and well-being. American Sociological Review, 84(1), 82 to 114. doi.org/10.1177/0003122418823184