Cabinet to stop employers docking foreign workers’ pay for rent

The Dutch government announced on Thursday that beginning in July 2028, employers will no longer be allowed to deduct rent from foreign workers' minimum wage. The current rule permits employers and agencies to withhold up to 25% of the minimum wage, approximately €144 per week, to cover accommodation provided the housing is certified.

The majority of these foreign workers, estimated to be between 600,000 and 900,000, come from Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine, and are employed in sectors such as meat processing, distribution centers, and greenhouses. Research conducted by the ministry revealed that employers frequently deduct the full 25%, even when the housing quality does not justify it.

Minister of Social Affairs Hans Vijlbrief stated that employers are exploiting this deduction as a "business model" and expressed concern over the exploitation of numerous workers. Employers will still have the option to provide housing, but it must be charged separately and at a fair market rate. This decision is the cabinet's third concerning this issue in under a year.

Prior to this, former social affairs minister Eddy van Hijum proposed phasing out the deductions starting in January 2026, but his successor, VVD minister Mariëlle Paul, reversed the decision, arguing that workers would face difficulty finding housing without employer assistance. The FNV trade union federation criticized the move as a "perverse profit model at the expense of migrant workers," and parliament has voted twice to eliminate the deductions.

Vijlbrief acknowledged that foreign workers will need to find their own accommodation amid the housing crisis, which led to the inclusion of a rent protection bill alongside the ban. The ban, along with a rent protection bill, is set to take effect on July 1, 2028. This measure is part of a broader initiative to address the exploitation of foreign workers, which includes a ban on temporary agency staff in the meat industry, also effective from mid-2028. A long-delayed licensing system for staffing agencies is expected to begin in 2027.