About these briefings
One home country at a time
An independent set of briefing notes for overseas companies hiring their first people in the Netherlands, organised by home country.
Next Career Life is an independent guide for HR and finance teams outside the Netherlands who are about to hire here for the first time. Most material on Dutch employment is written for Dutch readers, or for no one in particular. We write for one home country at a time.
Every briefing follows the same format. First, how your own system handles a topic. Then, how the Dutch system handles it. Then, the key difference you need to plan for, marked in amber. Dutch terms such as loonheffingen or vakantiegeld are explained the first time they appear.
The guides cover employer of record (EOR) arrangements, hiring before you have a Dutch entity, work permits and sponsorship, payroll basics and the cost of employment. They are written for orientation and planning. Rules change and every situation is different, so check the details with a qualified adviser before you sign a contract or run a first payroll.
How we write
- One audience per briefing: the HR team of one home country.
- Plain English, with the Dutch term named once and explained.
- Comparisons stay simplified on purpose; the full guide gives the nuance.
- Pages are dated and revised when rules change.