Highly educated self-employed people expect it to become increasingly difficult to find assignments and already experience that they miss out on assignments due to the approaching enforcement on false self-employment. This is evident from research by HR-tech service provider HeadFirst Group, to which 1,187 self-employed workers shared their experiences and opinions. On Thursday, September 12, a zzp-debate is planned in the Lower House, in which enforcement on false self-employment is an important item on the agenda.

The Cabinet sent a letter to the House of Representatives on Friday, Sept. 6, announcing, among other things, that it intends not to impose penalty fines on principals for the first year. Marion van Happen, CEO of HeadFirst Group, calls this a small step in the right direction: "Just like us, the government notices that clients - both in the profit and non-profit sector - are becoming more cautious in hiring self-employed workers and is taking the first measures to that end. It is positive that they are picking up these signals, taking them seriously and taking action on them, but this is still insufficient to restore and maintain peace in the labor market. We therefore recommend retaining the instrument 'indications' after January 1, 2025, so that client and contractor have time to adjust the employment relationship after advice from the Tax Office."

Reticence among clients
The survey found that about 25 percent of highly educated self-employed workers lost one or more assignments in the run-up to the lifting of the enforcement moratorium. In addition, 57 percent expect it to become more difficult to find assignments in the future due to stricter enforcement.

Van Happen says: "This confirms that clients are becoming more cautious in hiring self-employed workers. We experience in practice that clients have difficulty in properly assessing when a self-employed person may be hired. This leads to risk-averse behavior and fewer assignments for self-employed workers. That should not be the side effect of enforcement on false self-employment."

Awareness and need for greater clarity
The survey also shows that the 65 percent of respondents are (very) aware of the lifting of the enforcement moratorium. At the same time, in their open-ended responses, hundreds of respondents expressed a need for more consistent and specific information that would help them properly prepare for these changes. "It is now up to the parties involved to provide clear information and properly inform both principals and self-employed workers. Fortunately, the September 6 parliamentary letter shows that the cabinet recognizes the importance of clear communication and that a government-wide public campaign is in preparation, to be launched at the end of September. As a leading market party, we will also take our role in communication," Van Happen concludes.