What do you need before your first hire in the Netherlands?

Before the first employee starts, a foreign-owned company needs a Dutch entity registered with the KvK, a payroll tax number from the Dutch tax office, written terms of employment, and, for a hire from outside the EU, recognition as a sponsor by the IND. Pension and working conditions follow.

A first Dutch hire fails on sequence more often than on paperwork. Each item below waits on the one above it, and two of them are decided by an office outside your company, which is where the calendar goes.

This list follows the step by step plan that business.gov.nl publishes for employing your first staff, with the immigration items the IND adds when the hire comes from outside the EU.

Before you can hire at all

• A Dutch entity, registered in the trade register of the KvK, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.
• Registration as an employer with the Dutch tax office, which issues the payroll tax number you use for every filing. How that works for a foreign parent is in how a foreign company runs payroll in the Netherlands.
• Recognition as a sponsor by the IND, the Dutch immigration service, if the hire comes from outside the EU. It is mandatory for a highly skilled migrant, with an exception for applicants of Turkish nationality. In 2026 the application costs EUR 5,080, or EUR 2,539 for an organisation with 50 people or fewer, and the IND has 3 months to decide. The steps are in how a company becomes an IND recognised sponsor.
• A check of whether a collective labour agreement, the Dutch CAO, applies to your sector, because it can set the salary, the hours and the holidays for you.
• A check of whether your sector has a compulsory industry-wide pension fund. If it does, you have to offer the scheme.

Sources:
Business.gov.nl, Employing your first staff in the Netherlands
IND, Apply for recognition as sponsor
IND, Fees: costs of an application

Before the first working day

• Terms of employment in writing. Verbal agreement is valid in Dutch law, but you still have to give the employee clear information on the main conditions within 1 week to 1 month of the start, and a probation period runs for up to 2 months.
• An identity check, done before the employee starts, with a legible copy of the document kept in the payroll records.
• A salary at or above the statutory minimum wage, which is adjusted twice a year, on 1 January and 1 July. For a highly skilled migrant the IND salary criterion sits well above it.
• Payroll administration in place, including the employee's signed statement with name, address, date of birth and citizen service number, the Dutch BSN.
• Room in the budget for the costs on top of gross salary: holiday pay of 8%, national insurance contributions, employee insurance contributions and the income-related healthcare contribution.

Sources:
Business.gov.nl, Employing your first staff in the Netherlands
Business.gov.nl, Overview of personnel costs

In the first weeks

• Registration with the municipality, which the employee does within 5 days of arriving and which produces the BSN.
• The request for the expat scheme, the 30% ruling, filed jointly by employer and employee within 4 months of the first working day. What it is worth and what changes next year is in the 30% ruling.
• Working conditions arranged: at least one health and safety officer, an emergency response worker, and a risk inventory and evaluation, the Dutch RI&E.
• A plan for sickness. A Dutch employer keeps paying the wage of a sick employee for 2 years, which is 104 weeks, and carries reintegration duties in that period. Many employers insure the risk.

Sources:
Business.gov.nl, Arranging documents to work and live in the Netherlands
Business.gov.nl, The expat scheme, 30% ruling, in the Netherlands
Business.gov.nl, The WIA benefit for your employee

Where the time actually goes

Two items are not in your hands. Recognition as a sponsor is decided by the IND, and the residence permit is decided after that, not alongside it. How those two periods stack up, and what the recognised sponsor route changes in practice, is in how long the IND takes to decide.

Sources

1. Business.gov.nl, Employing your first staff in the Netherlands, checked 22 September 2026
2. Business.gov.nl, Overview of personnel costs, checked 22 September 2026
3. Business.gov.nl, The expat scheme, 30% ruling, in the Netherlands, checked 22 September 2026
4. Business.gov.nl, The WIA benefit for your employee, checked 22 September 2026
5. IND, Apply for recognition as sponsor, checked 22 September 2026
6. IND, Fees: costs of an application, checked 22 September 2026

Checked on 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules change: check the official source, or ask an adviser, before you act on it.