From 31 December 2026 a presumption of employment applies. Anyone who works for a business at a low hourly rate is presumed to be an employee. The law says at most € 36 an hour, the government says € 38, and the amount that applies on 31 December 2026 is still to follow. For most experienced engineers the rate is well above that.
That does not mean freelance hiring at an engineering firm is free of risk. The presumption only works in civil law. The tax authority separately tests whether a freelancer is really an employee, and from 1 January 2027 returns to normal enforcement. A general overview of the DBA Act is in our article on hiring freelancers. This article is about what it means in an engineering firm.
In short
- Below an hourly rate of at most € 36 according to the law, € 38 according to the government, an employment contract is presumed from 31 December 2026. The client must then prove that it is not employment.
- The presumption applies only in civil law. The tax authority already imposes penalties for intent or gross negligence in 2026, and returns to normal enforcement from 1 January 2027, including for hiring through an intermediary.
- Whether someone is an employee depends on all circumstances together: how the work is organised, who directs it, for how long, the rate and whether the freelancer behaves as an entrepreneur. Working through a private company does not rule out bogus self-employment.
In this article
- What changes on 31 December 2026?
- Does the presumption affect the engineers you hire?
- Does the tax authority also apply the presumption?
- What do the courts and the tax authority look at for a freelance engineer?
- What if you hire an engineer through an intermediary?
- If you work as a freelance engineer yourself: what should you watch?
- What comes after 2027?
What changes on 31 December 2026?
A new article 7:610aa is added to the Civil Code. Anyone who works for another for pay of at most € 36 an hour is presumed to do so under an employment contract. The amount follows the minimum wage. The article does not apply if the client is a private individual (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158). The law takes effect on 31 December 2026 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207).
Exactly which amount applies is not yet fixed. The law says € 36. Ondernemersplein writes that the amount rises with the minimum wage and has been € 38 an hour since 1 January 2026 (Ondernemersplein, A low hourly rate for a freelancer can lead to an employment contract). For the first application the minister sets the amount in a ministerial regulation (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158, article III). We had not yet found that regulation in the Government Gazette on 31 October 2026.
It is a presumption, not automatic employment. If a freelancer invokes it, the client must prove that there is no employment contract. If that fails, the freelancer is entitled to what comes with an employment contract, such as pay during sickness (Ondernemersplein, KVK).
Does the presumption affect the engineers you hire?
For most experienced structural engineers, building services consultants and project managers it does not, because their rate is far above € 38. It does matter for low-cost hiring. Think of a student doing drafting work, a junior drafter or BIM modeller paid by the hour, or help with measurements and surveys. The rate is then the first question.
Watch the comparison. The presumption looks at the worker's pay per hour, not at what you charge your own client. A junior you hire at € 35 an hour and resell at € 85 is below the threshold.
Research on Dutch freelancers shows that dependence on one client is less common than often assumed. In 2017 about 7% of freelancers depended on one client, and almost 20% had become self-employed because there was no alternative. Less than 2% were both (Kösters & Smits, 2021).
The researchers also found that dependence is hardly related to poor outcomes, while involuntary self-employment is. The study covers all freelancers, not engineers separately. The lesson for you: one regular client is not a problem in itself, but the weight of the other circumstances then becomes greater.
Does the tax authority also apply the presumption?
No. The presumption works exclusively in civil law. The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the tax authority and the Labour Inspectorate do not test against it themselves (Parliamentary paper 36 783, D). That the € 38 threshold is far below your rates therefore says nothing about payroll taxes.
The tax authority has been enforcing against bogus self-employment again since 1 January 2025. In 2026 it imposes no penalties for late or missing filings, but it does impose penalties for intent or gross negligence. It can levy additional assessments, but never further back than 1 January 2025, unless there is bad faith or an earlier instruction was not followed (Tax authority, Employment relationships and enforcement).
From 1 January 2027 those last parts of the soft landing also lapse. Only in 2030 can the tax authority again go back five years. The enforcement plan also says that working through a private company, general partnership or cooperative does not rule out bogus self-employment (Tax authority, Enforcement plan for employment relationships 2026).
What do the courts and the tax authority look at for a freelance engineer?
At all circumstances together. The Supreme Court names, among other things, the nature and duration of the work, how the work and working hours are determined, embedding in the organisation, whether the work must be done personally, how pay is set and how high it is, and whether the worker bears commercial risk. It also counts whether the worker behaves as an entrepreneur, for example with business development and several clients (Supreme Court 24 March 2023, ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443, ground 3.2.5).
What the parties intended in the contract is not decisive. A clause only carries weight if it also has meaning in practice (ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443, grounds 3.2.4 and 3.2.5). A substitution clause in the contract therefore helps little if the freelancer never arranges a substitute.
Translated to an engineering firm, these are the signals that point towards employment. The freelancer has been in your project team for years, with a desk in the office, your email address and your software. They get their tasks each week from your project manager, calculate using your method, and are paid per hour worked without any own risk for errors. And they work nowhere else.
Signals that point towards self-employment are a clearly defined assignment with a result, their own professional liability insurance, their own software and licences, a fixed price or their own rate per assignment, and several clients. None of these points decides on its own.
What if you hire an engineer through an intermediary?
Then the tax authority looks at the whole chain. The enforcement plan says that freelancers are often hired through an intermediary, and that clients seem to want to shift the risk to the intermediary in that way. Assessing this requires insight into the whole chain, and the tax authority is continuing with that in 2026 (Enforcement plan for employment relationships 2026).
On large projects engineering firms regularly hire specialists through an agency or platform. The intermediary arranges the contract, but the freelancer works in your team and under your direction. That is exactly where the risk lies. Agree with the intermediary who keeps which records and how the assignment is carried out in practice.
If you work as a freelance engineer yourself: what should you watch?
A model agreement gives only limited certainty. Since 6 September 2024 the tax authority no longer assesses new model agreements. Approved models that were valid at that time may be used until 31 December 2029, but only if you actually work as they describe (Tax authority, No new model agreements).
- Work for more than one client, and show it.
- Agree a result, not availability per week.
- Use your own software, licences and insurance.
- Invoice yourself, on your own letterhead and under your own name.
- Arrange your own income in case of illness.
You can read more about compulsory disability insurance for freelancers in our article on compulsory disability insurance.
What comes after 2027?
The government is working on a Self-Employed Act with two tests. The self-employment test looks at the entrepreneur, such as invoicing yourself and registration with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK). The work relationship test looks at the freedom to organise the work yourself. The consultation ran until 29 October 2026 and the intended entry into force is January 2028 (Government of the Netherlands, 1 October 2026).
That is a proposal, not a law. Until then the presumption, the DBA Act and case law remain the rules you work with.
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 (in Dutch). officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Decree of 13 July 2026 on entry into force, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207 (in Dutch). officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Memorandum in response to the report, Parliamentary paper 36 783, D, 5 June 2026 (in Dutch). officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Ondernemersplein, A low hourly rate for a freelancer can lead to an employment contract (in Dutch), accessed 31 October 2026. ondernemersplein.overheid.nl
- KVK, Are you really self-employed with an hourly rate below 38 euros? (in Dutch), updated 7 October 2026. kvk.nl
- Tax authority (Belastingdienst), Employment relationships and enforcement (in Dutch), accessed 31 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Tax authority, Enforcement plan for employment relationships 2026 (in Dutch), version 2.0, 31 December 2025. belastingdienst.nl
- Tax authority, No new model agreements (in Dutch), accessed 31 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 24 March 2023, ECLI:NL:HR:2023:443 (Deliveroo) (in Dutch). uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
- Government of the Netherlands, Self-Employed Act offers more clarity and recognition for freelancers (in Dutch), 1 October 2026. rijksoverheid.nl
- Kösters, L. & Smits, W. (2021). 'Genuine' or 'quasi' self-employment: who can tell? Social Indicators Research, 161(1), 191-224. doi.org