Recently the Financieele Dagblad paid attention to the abolition of the enforcement moratorium and the fiscal and employment risks for zzp'ers and clients. These concerns are justified, because also at HeadFirst Group we notice an increasing number of questions from clients about this issue. Labor law and tax are significant risks, so good information is crucial. At the same time, we need to keep the peace, support each other, keep hiring genuine self-employed workers and encourage compliant behavior. I noticed in the FD article that there are misunderstandings about the number of false self-employed and that wrong figures are presented. As the CEO of an HR-tech service provider, I feel compelled to respond based on facts and objective research. This is because the claim that "half of all self-employed people may be a false self-employed person" is unfounded.

Dutch politicians and politicians have been working for quite some time on policies to make a clearer distinction between employees and the self-employed. It is important to conduct this discussion on the basis of facts and figures, because only then can we together arrive at feasible policies that really work. We contribute to this discussion by conducting research with partners such as ZiPconomy, ONL for Entrepreneurs and SEO Economic Research.

Facts and figures on self-employed population
In our recently published 'Grip op het zzp-dossier' we describe the zzp-population working in the Netherlands. This group is heterogeneous, diverse and active in the labor market in all shapes and sizes. Based on these figures, I can tell you one thing: it is impossible that half are sham self-employed. Of the approximately 1.2 million self-employed in the labor market, over 270,000 sell products. By definition, these fall off as sham self-employed. In addition, a large group of self-employed workers, about 329,000, offer their labor to individuals. They also fall off as sham self-employed.

Zooming in further on the self-employed who offer labor to organizations, we see a large group that has many clients per year and does short-term assignments. This group is actually growing compared to the group doing longer assignments with few clients per year. In 2023, 65% of the self-employed who provide their own labor had more than four clients per year. In 2021, this percentage was still at 58%. That leaves about 210,000, which is about 17.35% of the total. Even in this group, not everyone is a sham self-employed person.

In addition, I continue to be puzzled by the discussion about the sustainability and affordability of the social security system. Earlier we commissioned SEO Economic Research to map the social and economic value of independent professionals (those who fall into the category with fewer clients per year). The figures do not lie: government, business and workers themselves all see positive results. Although less premiums are paid, this is more than offset by higher tax revenues.

Road to a workable solution
Finally, I am aware of the different interests and perspectives regarding the self-employed dossier. At the same time, surveys show time and again that the majority of self-employed people choose entrepreneurship very consciously, are satisfied with their working conditions and are happy to dedicate themselves to the Dutch labor market and economy. Although there are free birds and outlaws among them, it does not help to state that half of them are pseudo self-employed; this does not contribute to a constructive discussion or workable solution. The legal presumption of employment below an hourly rate of €32.24 is an excellent proposal to better position vulnerable workers at the base of the labor market. In an earlier opinion piece I already called for the bill 'clarification of assessment of labor relations and legal presumption' to be cut up and for the legal presumption to be dealt with quickly in the Lower House. After all, there is broad support for it in both the polder and the field. In addition, we must sit down together to formulate clear entrepreneurial criteria, so that self-employed workers and clients get the clarity and recognition they deserve.