More than half of highly skilled self-employed professionals are finding it harder to find assignments since the introduction of the DBA law in 2016, introduced at the time to better protect precisely vulnerable self-employed people. This is according to a survey by HR service provider HeadFirst Group, in which over 1,700 self-employed professionals (zp'ers) recently participated. "It is imperative that politicians immediately extend the current period of limited enforcement to prevent further negative consequences for highly skilled self-employed professionals and clients," stated Han Kolff, CEO at HeadFirst Group.
Lack of clarity about DBA law hinders more and more clients and self-employed workers
Since the introduction of the DBA law, there has been much to do about it. After its introduction the law was quickly frozen, because in a short time there was much unrest among clients, who started to hire fewer self-employed workers. Since then, new legislation has been worked on and, in the meantime, a limited enforcement policy applies. As the research of HeadFirst Group now shows, the negative effects of the legislation for self-employed workers are still present and even increasing.
More than 55 percent of independent professionals experience that clients look more critically at zp'ers now when hiring externally than they did a year ago, the survey found. Recent examples in the press of clients putting their zp hiring under strict scrutiny support this view. In practice, assignments for which clients are looking for an external professional are increasingly indicating "no self-employed person may respond to this assignment. This makes it more difficult for more than half of the self-employed to find assignments, it turns out. So currently hundreds of thousands of self-employed people are experiencing hindrance. This is in addition to the self-employed, nearly 40 percent, whose assignments have been terminated prematurely by the client in recent years due to concerns and lack of clarity surrounding the legislation.
Han Kolff, CEO at HeadFirst Group: "That clients are looking critically at hiring self-employed professionals for roles where perhaps someone in permanent employment would make more sense is good. But there is no reason to panic, as replacement legislation is going to come. However, the date of Oct. 1, 2021 - when the current limited enforcement ends - is getting closer, causing many organizations to tighten their belts around zp'ers. This was to be expected. Large clients are acting risk-averse, and blame them. The key lies with politics."
Solution: continue enforcement freeze
The negative consequences are twofold: self-employed workers see work evaporate and clients, who already have a hard time recruiting good professionals due to scarcity on the labor market, risk having to sideline an important target group with valuable knowledge. Han Kolff: "As an intermediary on the labor market we can adapt to legislation and customer requirements, but customers and self-employed workers - our customers - are directly affected by the current situation. We stand up for the interests of our clients."
The SER recently suggested maintaining below the EUR 30-35 limit. Kolff: "An excellent limit, which gives the professionals above it - and the clients who hire them - peace of mind and room to do business. My appeal on behalf of clients and freelancers: continue the current limited enforcement until there is new, clear legislation from a new cabinet. And get on with it now; the market has been craving that clarity for years."
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR service provider and specialist in the professional organization of permanent and flexible labor. The organization offers a diversity of HR solutions: Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, intermediary services (matchmaking, contracting) and HR consultancy. An average of fifteen thousand professionals work daily for over four hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over 1.5 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are the intermediaries HeadFirst, Between and Myler, MSP service provider Staffing Management Services and RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen.
Note to editors
All outcomes of the study have been compiled into aninfographic.
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this press release? Feel free to contact Bart van der Geest, manager of marketing & communications at HeadFirst Group, reachable at 023 - 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.