Netherland also still doesn't have clear rules about that. A couple of years ago they tried several things, and people and companies rebelled against some of those, and now they're mostly ignoring the whole issue again, I think.
At least in my field, where contractors are paid far better than employees. There are also obvious, blatant cases where companies do use this as a loophole to reduce costs. And sometimes they do that with permission from the tax service, even! PostNL, the Dutch postal service fired all their mail deliverers and hired them back as contractors, but they still had to follow the schedules set by PostNL, wear their uniform, etc. Yet the tax service approved that.
I don't get it. I think that's a blatant case of the abuse they're supposed to fight. But at least they're leaving me alone for now. I think the unspoken rule is that if you're paid well, it's probably fine, and they're focusing on cases where people are underpaid and unable to save up for retirement. Because those are the cases where this is going to cause problems.
At least in my field, where contractors are paid far better than employees. There are also obvious, blatant cases where companies do use this as a loophole to reduce costs. And sometimes they do that with permission from the tax service, even! PostNL, the Dutch postal service fired all their mail deliverers and hired them back as contractors, but they still had to follow the schedules set by PostNL, wear their uniform, etc. Yet the tax service approved that.
I don't get it. I think that's a blatant case of the abuse they're supposed to fight. But at least they're leaving me alone for now. I think the unspoken rule is that if you're paid well, it's probably fine, and they're focusing on cases where people are underpaid and unable to save up for retirement. Because those are the cases where this is going to cause problems.