Over the past year and a half, the market has been mainly characterised by uncertainty. Uncertainty about regulations, enforcement, and the question of when a collaboration with a freelancer is still considered entrepreneurship — and when it is seen as disguised employment.
By scrapping the clarification part of VBAR, the Dutch government is now trying to reduce this unrest and create space for a new law: the Self-Employed Act.
Uncertainty mainly changed the contract form — not the demand
What became especially clear in the past period is that the demand for temporary expertise has never disappeared.
Organisations continue to need specialist knowledge, temporary capacity, and independent expertise. Interim professionals play an important role, especially in complex AI transformations or ERP implementations and innovation issues. Yet we saw many organisations become more cautious about hiring freelancers. Not because the need changed, but because the legal risk became less predictable.
In response, alternative constructions emerged, such as:
- deta-permanent
- temporary employment
- payrolling
- deployment via secondment structures
On paper, these forms offered more certainty. In practice, they were often mainly a contractually different interpretation of the same demand for temporary expertise.
The work, the project-based deployment, and the need for specialist knowledge often remained identical.
Risk aversion driven by uncertainty about the rules
It is understandable that organisations became more cautious.
Since 1 January 2025, enforcement against false self-employment has resumed in full. If a collaboration with a self-employed professional is later classified as an employment relationship, the client organisation may still be confronted with:
- payroll taxes
- social security contributions
- employment law obligations
- potential financial corrections or back payments
For many organisations, this was reason enough to minimise risk wherever possible.
At the same time, in practice we observed that the shift towards alternative contract structures was often not the result of a different way of working, but primarily of insufficient clarity on how the existing rules should be applied correctly.
As a result, the response was frequently risk-averse: organisations preferred to choose a different contractual structure rather than run the risk of a potential reassessment or financial correction.
What this meant for self-employed professionals
For many independent professionals, this period involved difficult choices.
Should you adapt to a different contractual structure?
Or wait until there was more clarity?
For many interim professionals, this discussion touches on something fundamental: entrepreneurship.
Self-employed professionals often consciously choose:
- project-based work
- independent advice
- flexibility in assignments
- personal responsibility for their professional development
Structures such as temporary employment or deta-vast arrangements therefore do not feel like a solution to many professionals, but rather a limitation of their preferred way of working.
Why interim professionals remain important
What is sometimes overlooked in the broader discussion is the role that independent professionals play in the development of organisations.
Particularly in complex transformations, they bring:
- specialist expertise
- experience from multiple organisations
- speed within projects
- an independent perspective
This often makes interim professionals a key accelerator of innovation and change, directly contributing to strengthening the innovative capacity of the Dutch economy.
The NXTminds approach
At NXTminds, during this period we deliberately focused on creating greater clarity.
When the Dutch Tax Authority introduced a new assessment framework for employment relationships at the end of 2024, we developed a Wet DBA start scan. This allowed us to assess in advance whether assignments met the most important criteria within the framework.
In addition, we carried out interim checks during assignments.
Not because the market was waiting for more rules, but because transparency and well-structured collaboration are essential to operating within the legal framework.
What this step by the government means
By removing the clarification component of VBAR, the government aims to reduce the current uncertainty in the market. At the same time, enforcement against false self-employment will remain in place. In addition, the government intends to accelerate another element of the VBAR proposal: a legal presumption for self-employed professionals with an hourly rate of up to €38, allowing them to more easily claim protection if the working relationship is effectively that of employment. In the longer term, the Self-Employed Persons Act (Zelfstandigenwet) is intended to provide a clearer legal position for self-employed professionals within Dutch labour law.
Back to what really matters
Hopefully, this step will bring more stability to the market. Because ultimately one thing remains clear: organisations continue to need strong interim professionals who can accelerate change. When regulation becomes clearer and collaboration feels less legally burdensome, space returns for what truly matters: progress, innovation, and connecting the right expertise to the right challenges.
And that is exactly what NXTminds works on every day.