Zero-hours and on-call contracts: your hours, the average-hours rule, and enforcing your rights

On-call work (oproepwerk) is common for newcomers — but a zero-hours contract gives you more protection than many people realise. Here's how it works and what to do if your employer doesn't play fair.

The three on-call contract types

• Nulurencontract (zero-hours): no fixed hours agreed. You work — and get paid — only when called. No call, no pay.
• Min-maxcontract: a guaranteed minimum (the garantie-uren, always paid) plus a maximum you can be called up to.
• Voorovereenkomst: each time you accept a call, a new short contract is formed.

The basic on-call rules (art. 7:628a BW)

These have been stable since 2020, and the Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) has been actively enforcing them since January 2025:

• Your employer must call you at least 4 days in advance, in writing (email, app). Called later? You're not obliged to come.
• If the employer cancels or changes the call within those 4 days, you're still paid for the hours you were called for.
• Minimum 3 hours' pay per call (if your contract is under 15 hours/week or the times aren't fixed), even if you work less.
• Your contract and payslip must clearly state it's an oproepovereenkomst.
• Sick while rostered? You're entitled to at least 70% of your rostered (or guaranteed) hours.

The key rule: a pattern becomes your hours (art. 7:610b BW)

This is the protection most people miss. Once your contract has lasted 3 months, the law presumes your hours equal the average of the previous 3 months. So if your contract says "zero hours" but you've actually worked around 30 hours a week for months, you can claim a fixed 30-hour contract — with the pay security that brings (including continued pay when there's no work, and during illness).

This is a rebuttable presumption: the employer can argue the period wasn't representative — for example a seasonal peak — and that a 12-month reference period gives a fairer average. A recent Supreme Court ruling (23 January 2026) confirmed the worker can also propose a different, more representative reference period than the standard 3 months, if that better reflects the real pattern.

Separately, after 12 months on call, your employer must offer you a fixed contract for at least the average hours of the past 12 months. If they don't make that offer, you can still claim the pay for those hours.

What's changing

From 1 January 2027 (under the upcoming flex-work reforms), zero-hours contracts are set to be abolished for most workers, and min-max contracts limited to a narrower "bandwidth" contract. Treat this as upcoming until formally in force.

If your rights aren't respected

If you're underpaid, not getting the 3-hour minimum, denied the average-hours adjustment, or never offered fixed hours, you have a clear route:

1. Collect evidence — rosters, payslips, hour overviews, messages. Calculate your real average.
2. Put it in writing to your employer: state what you're owed and request the correct contract size or back pay.
3. Get free help if they refuse: Het Juridisch Loket (free legal advice), or your trade union (FNV, CNV) if you're a member — unions actively run awareness campaigns for flex workers.
4. Report structural breaches to the Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie.
5. Court — as a last resort, the kantonrechter (subdistrict court) can rule on a 7:610b claim, via a fast-track (kort geding) or full procedure.

Don't wait too long. Wage claims have limitation periods, so act while your evidence is fresh.

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This complements employment contract types. Working via an agency? See the temp-agency phase system.

Rules: 2026 — verified against Rijksoverheid (Ondernemersplein), Het Juridisch Loket, CNV and recent case law. DutchNewcomer provides information, not legal advice; for your situation consult a lawyer or Het Juridisch Loket.