The Importance of Posted Worker Notification Compliance in Netherlands

Posted Worker Notification (PWN) compliance is currently a key issue across Europe, as there has been an ongoing rise in enforcement and audits from labour and social security authorities across the continent.

Given the different rules and regulations in each European country, employers from the sending and receiving entities need to be aware of what their responsibilities are when filing a PWN.

This blog discusses the specific scenario of short-term travel for business to the Netherlands and the legal requirement for the employer to file, as well as for the receiving Dutch entity to validate, a PWN.

However, employers should also consider what obligations other European countries impose to be compliant with the posted worker regulations across the region.

Employees traveling to the Netherlands for work or business

If you are sending an employee to the Netherlands to temporarily provide services to a client or related corporate entity, you likely will be required to submit a PWN to the Dutch authorities within the online government portal.

Once the PWN is submitted by the sending employer, this needs to be checked and verified by a contact person at the Dutch entity receiving your services. This must be done within five working (business) days from the commencement of work (as was formally confirmed to us by the Dutch authorities). 

Who must validate the PWN in the Netherlands?

There is some uncertainty as to the appropriate contact person at the Dutch entity that should review the PWN. The Dutch host entity receiving the service must appoint an individual who is responsible for checking and validating PWNs via the same government portal on which the sending employer submits the PWN. This person must log into the portal once the PWN is submitted, review all relevant details of the employee’s travel to the Netherlands, and verify the PWN if there are no inaccuracies. Once validated and approved in the portal, the PWN can be considered complete.

However, if the Dutch contact person comes across any inaccuracies in the PWN, the latter will have to be reviewed and amended by the sending entity that submitted the PWN so it can be finalised.

Recently, the Dutch authorities have issued various warnings to companies for failing to comply with the verification or validation step of the PWN within five days. Fragomen has seen an increase in automated audits from the authorities, and more penalties are issued to companies who do not validate the PWN or who approve inaccurate PWNs.

However, many Dutch companies are not aware of their obligations to verify PWNs, or, those that do, may not have robust enough policies and procedures to ensure they are verifying in a compliant manner and reduce the risk of penalties.

In cases where businesses fail to check the veracity of the information contained in PWNs, both the sending employer and the receiving Dutch entity are jointly liable for penalties resulting from the inaccuracy of the information provided.

Fines are typically issued for not reviewing and/or checking the notification and can range between EUR 750 and EUR 1,500 per instance. This can be a considerable expense compared to the cost of a short business trip.

The ongoing importance of compliance

The above exposes the importance for both the sending employing entity and the Dutch receiving entity to be aware of their responsibilities and actions within PWN compliance.

Given the authority’s expectations of accuracy on the data provided in PWNs, the tight deadline given to check for inaccuracies of the notification, and the increase in audits on submitted PWNs, it is crucial for companies to be aware of their specific obligations for PWN compliance in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, with varying PWN requirements across the EU companies need to ensure they assess the compliance risk, and have a robust and compliant PWN policy for all travellers going to the region.

Need to know more?

For questions regarding Posted Worker Compliance and related A1/CoC compliance, please contact Fragomen Consulting Europe at [email protected] or [email protected].

This blog was published on 31 March 2024, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.