Loonstrook (Dutch payslip): check pay, tax and deductions

Verify the hours, gross pay, deductions, and the money that reaches your bank account

Compare the pay period, the hours paid, and the gross pay with your own records and your contract. After that, look at the tax and every deduction. Make sure nettoloon (net pay) matches the bank transfer. Employees who are 21 or older have a standard minimum of €14.99 gross per hour starting 1 July 2026. Look at vakantiebijslag (holiday allowance) as a separate item.

The guide applies to employees in the Netherlands, including temporary-agency workers. Some lines on a payslip depend on your contract and on any cao (collective labour agreement).

Four totals to check

Work through the checks in this sequence: first the pay period and paid hours, then gross pay, then withholding and deductions, and finally net pay. For each amount, compare it with the record in the middle column. If something differs, use the last column to find out why.

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A payslip may also include year-to-date totals, employer costs, and calculation bases. These do not represent extra money paid to you or taken from you. Start by comparing the column for the current period. If the headings are not clear, ask payroll to point out which column that is.

How payslips are delivered and what information they must contain

Your employer has to give you a payslip together with the first wage payment, and also whenever gross pay, a wage component, a deduction, or the statutory minimum that applies to you changes. Many employers issue a payslip every month. A monthly payslip is not required only if all of those amounts stay the same. A digital payslip is allowed only if you give explicit consent. You must be able to save it and open it later. The official payslip rules and Article 7:626 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek (Civil Code) explain these obligations.

The payslip must contain all the information listed below. The groups are based on the Rijksoverheid (Dutch government) payslip guidance.

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The payslip shows how the payment is made, but your contract and the cao that applies to you establish many of the rights behind it. Check the wage scale, contracted hours, allowances, overtime arrangements, and pension scheme against those documents. The employment-contract guide tells you where to find them.

Hours and gross pay

A pay period may be one week, four weeks, or a calendar month. The required hours field states the hours agreed in your contract. Actual hours and paid hours may appear on separate lines on the payslip. If your hours change from period to period, keep your own time records.

Check your contract or cao for overtime and allowances. For hourly pay, check the statutory minimum as well.

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These lines depend on your situation. Dutch law does not set a general overtime premium; your contract or cao determines whether overtime gives you money, time off, or an allowance. Sickness and leave follow their own rules, and the labels payroll uses do not alter those rights.

The legal minimum hourly wage in 2026

Use the rate that was in force for the hours you worked. The official 2026 minimum-wage table gives one set of rates from 1 January to 30 June and a different set from 1 July to 31 December. The rates below apply under the standard minimum-wage rules.

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These amounts are gross hourly rates. Since 2024, there is no fixed statutory minimum for a month, week, or day. Employees aged 18–20 who have a beroepsbegeleidende leerweg (BBL, work-based vocational training) contract have lower minimum rates in 2026. If that contract applies to you, ask payroll to check the statutory BBL minimum. If your contract or cao agrees to higher pay, that higher amount is still owed.

For some employees who receive a disability benefit, UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, Employee Insurance Agency) can approve loondispensatie (wage dispensation). That approval lets your employer pay below the standard minimum. If it applies to you, ask payroll for the approval and the wage calculation before you treat the difference as underpayment.

The enacted youth-wage change increases the rates for ages 16–20 and removes the separate BBL scale starting 1 January 2027. It does not change the rates for hours worked in 2026.

Which payments are included in the minimum?

The statutory check uses only the wage components that count by law. The government's wage-component list includes the following items:

• Basic wage.
• Pay for overtime or additional hours.
• Allowances for performance, shift work, or irregular hours.
• A fixed commission based on turnover.
• Tips that are part of the wage you agreed.

Payments that serve a different purpose are left out of that statutory hourly calculation:

• Holiday allowance.
• Reimbursements of expenses, including travel costs.
• Pension contributions paid by the employer and other deferred benefits.
• Profit-sharing payments and bonuses that are occasional or conditional.
• End-of-year payments.

For a normal pay period under the standard rules, add only the wage components that count, then divide the total by the paid hours. Include hours worked, paid leave, and sickness hours for which your employer continues to pay your wage. Compare the result with the rate for your age and for the dates you worked. Check holiday allowance and expenses separately.

If you have reduced sickness pay, a change in age or rate, all-in pay, or corrections, each part of the period needs its own calculation. When one of these applies, ask payroll or a legal adviser to explain how the calculation was done.

Example: you are 25 years old and worked 160 paid hours in September 2026 under the standard minimum-wage rules. Your gross statutory minimum is 160 × €14.99 = €2,398.40, not counting holiday allowance and expenses. If the wage components that qualify add up to €2,350, the difference is €48.40. Ask payroll to explain or correct that difference.

How gross pay becomes net pay

The table separates the lines that affect your net pay from information that is used only for the calculation.

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A pension deduction appears when a workplace pension scheme applies and you owe an employee contribution. Look at the calculation basis and percentage in your pension documents or cao. If an employer contribution is shown for information, the employer pays it.

Pension contributions from your workplace are separate from AOW (Algemene Ouderdomswet, the Dutch state pension). The Dutch pension and AOW guide explains how they differ and how to check your pension records.

Payroll has to withhold 52% without the payroll tax credit if required personal details are missing or incorrect, if your identity is not established in time, or if a required residence or work permission is invalid. If you applied for a BSN (citizen service number) and the delay is outside both your control and your employer’s control, give evidence and ask payroll about the exception.

Loonheffingskorting

Apply loonheffingskorting at only one employer or benefit payer at a time. If you switch employers, each employer can apply it while you work there. Each payer sees only the income that it pays you. If two payers apply the credit at the same time, they may withhold too little tax.

Check the setting on your payslip, and if needed, change it with the payer. The Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) guidance for several jobs explains the rule. Your annual income-tax assessment works out the final amount you owe or receive.

Allowances and one-time payments

A reimbursement may be tax-free under a specific exemption or under the werkkostenregeling (WKR, work-related costs scheme). Ask your employer which rule applies to your reimbursement. The word “reimbursement” by itself does not determine whether tax is due.

Under the standard payroll rules, payroll uses a special tax table for bijzondere beloningen (one-off or annual rewards). Such rewards are separate from a pay period, for example a yearly holiday allowance or a bonus. Normal annual wages paid once a year use the regular table. Holiday allowance paid monthly usually uses the monthly table. The tax percentage can be higher than on ordinary salary. Your annual income-tax assessment calculates the final tax.

Some back pay or overtime from another pay period can use the special table, or the regular table with a recalculation. The regular table is required for period wages that are determined later and paid in one lump sum if no wages were paid earlier for those periods.

If you qualify and your employer applies the studenten- en scholierenregeling (students’ and pupils’ scheme) when you ask for it, the quarterly table applies to both ordinary and special pay.

Vakantiebijslag

Vakantiebijslag is usually at least 8% of the gross wage you earn during the period in which you build it up. The calculation includes overtime and its premium. You also build holiday allowance over the wage paid while you are sick. Profit shares and end-of-year payments are not part of the statutory calculation. Your payslip may show the amount built up, the amount paid, or both.

Your employer must pay holiday allowance at least once every calendar year. The legal default is June. A written agreement can set a different payment time or allow instalments. Check the payment arrangements in your contract or cao.

A cao can set a lower holiday allowance, or none at all, if your total pay is at least 108% of the minimum wage. If you earn more than three times the minimum wage, a written agreement can set a lower amount or none. Before you treat an unusual line as an error, check the official holiday-allowance rules.

The jaaropgaaf (annual income statement)

You receive your jaaropgaaf at the start of the following year, often in January or February. Official guidance does not give one fixed delivery date. It shows your fiscal wage, the loonheffing withheld, and the arbeidskorting (labour tax credit) used for that employer. Untaxed allowances may appear, but your employer is allowed to leave them out.

Compare the totals with your final payslip, and use each employer’s statement in your tax return. The Dutch income-tax guide explains the annual calculation.

Deductions and the limits on them

Payroll tax and mandatory employee pension contributions follow their own rules. Many other deductions require your written permission. For those deductions, an agreement in your employment contract is not enough. Under the standard rules, the employer must calculate at least the gross minimum that applies to you and pay its net amount into your bank account. If UWV approves loondispensatie, your employer may pay a lower wage. A few legal exceptions allow deductions from the protected net amount. Check the evidence and limits below.

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The government deduction rules include a rule that makes an exception for employees who have an arbeidsbeperking (work limitation) and receive the minimum wage. That exception applies to housing, to health insurance for you and your family, and to utilities including gas, water, and electricity. Also included are rioolheffing (sewerage levy), afvalstoffenheffing (waste collection levy), and waterschapsbelasting (water authority tax). No maximum deduction applies to any of these listed costs. You must still provide written authorisation. Check with payroll or a legal adviser to see if this exception applies to you.

Housing charges for temporary-agency workers

If the Algemene Bond Uitzendondernemingen (ABU, temporary-agency employers’ association) cao for 2026–2028 applies to you, these housing limits cover workers who live in the Netherlands temporarily. You must also have been recruited abroad by the agency or for the agency, or housed here for work. They do not cover cross-border workers who have a permanent home in Belgium or Germany.

The Prijs-kwaliteitsysteem (PKS, housing price-quality system) ties the charge to the quality of the housing. Its normal maximum is €159.85 per week from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027. Article 49 provides two exceptions:

• When your agreed basic weekly pay is at least 140% of the current statutory minimum hourly wage × 40, the €159.85 maximum is not used. The PKS still caps the charge.
• If the agency has not yet put the PKS into practice, the maximum charge is 20% of the current statutory minimum hourly wage × 40.

A housing price ceiling by itself does not give permission for a wage deduction. Your employer still needs written authorisation and must satisfy the statutory housing and minimum-wage protections. The 25% statutory deduction cap and the PKS price limit answer different questions; both can apply.

Payslip rules for temporary-agency workers

When the ABU 2026–2028 cao is the one that applies, your payslip also has to list the hourly rate, the hours actually worked, allowances, and the minimum that applies. It must explain any abbreviations. Where possible, it must also state the client company’s name and location.

A reservering vakantiebijslag is holiday allowance that you have accrued. For any other reservation or settlement, request the calculation behind it. The temporary-agency work guide sets out the roles of the agency, the client, and the worker.

Common payslip problems

Go through the table from top to bottom: hours and rates first, then allowances, tax, and deductions. Put the line you dispute next to the record listed under “Check first”. Under “Ask for”, ask payroll to provide the calculation.

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The payslip gives the result; the contract, cao, and source records explain how that result was reached. If reduced pay or waiting days are connected to sickness, use the sick-leave guide.

Records and requests for correction in writing

For your pay problem, keep every one of these records that applies to you:

• Keep every payslip and every annual income statement.
• Keep bank statements that show each payment of wages.
• Keep the contract, the cao that applies, the wage-scale notice, and pension information.
• Keep rosters, clock records, timesheets, leave records, and sickness records.
• Keep invoices for housing, insurance, and other matters, along with every written authorisation.
• Keep emails and messages that concern hours, rates, deductions, and corrections that were promised.

If it would be unsafe to contact your employer, use one of the help routes below. If it is safe, use your records to request a correction in this order:

1. Send a written message to your employer or the payroll department. State the pay period, the line you dispute, and the amount.
2. Attach the record that does not match the payslip, and ask for the calculation.
3. If the error is confirmed, request a corrected payslip, the date of payment, and any corrected payroll or annual statement.
4. Keep the message you sent and the reply.

If you need an exemption from ONA (Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt, Dutch labour market orientation), the ONA exemption guide explains the work conditions and the evidence required. Keep payslips that show your hours: they can help support an objection if your exemption is refused.

Before sharing, hide personal data

Payslips and annual statements hold personal data and income data. Send them only through a channel you trust. Before you share, conceal your burgerservicenummer and any bank details the recipient does not need. Store the original in a secure place.

Help for pay problems and wage claims

Pick a route that is able to deal with your pay problem. Begin with your employer, unless it would be unsafe to contact them.

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If you were underpaid minimum wage or holiday allowance, you can report this to Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie or file a claim in the subdistrict court. When Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie finds minimum-wage underpayment, your employer has to pay the arrears within four weeks. You can claim unpaid wages and holiday allowance for five years from the due date of each payment.

Compensation and interest for late pay

When your employer is responsible for a delayed payment, you can claim a wettelijke verhoging (statutory late-pay increase). For working days four through eight after the due date, the increase is 5% of the unpaid wage for each day. After that, it goes up by 1% for every later working day, to a maximum of 50%. You have to claim it in court, and the judge may lower it.

Wettelijke rente (statutory interest) may also be owed. From 1 January 2026, the non-commercial rate is 4%. Rates can change, so apply the rate that belongs to the period of delay.

If it would be unsafe to contact your employer, bring your records to the union, a legal adviser, or Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, depending on your situation. If it is safe, send a message that states the pay period, the disputed line, the evidence, and the correction you want. Keep a copy of what you sent and the reply. If your employer does not fix the problem, take those records to the help route or court route that suits your case.

For the documents and help you might need next:

• Dutch employment contracts: what to check before you sign
• Free and subsidised legal help in the Netherlands

Official Sources

• Business.gov.nl: Rules for payslips - when an employer must provide a payslip, the required information, digital-payslip consent and the employee's right to save it
• Rijksoverheid: What is on my payslip? - the required payslip fields, conditional pension information and the payroll-tax bases that may appear
• Business.gov.nl: Salary and payslip rules - weekly, four-weekly and monthly pay periods, bank payment of the net minimum, payslip totals and the annual income statement
• Rijksoverheid: Employer rules for an employment contract - the contract and CAO as sources of pay terms, payslip duties and timely salary payment
• Rijksoverheid: What is a CAO? - how a collective labour agreement can set wages, allowances, overtime, hours and pension terms
• Rijksoverheid: Minimum-wage amounts for 2026 - the gross hourly rates by age from 1 January and 1 July 2026 and the paid hours used for the statutory hourly system
• Rijksoverheid: What counts towards the minimum wage? - which wage components count towards the statutory minimum and which payments, including holiday allowance and expenses, stay outside the calculation
• Rijksoverheid: How much holiday allowance do I receive? - the 8% minimum, calculation basis, overtime and sickness rules, annual payment and written exceptions
• Rijksoverheid: Payroll tax and employer contributions - what loonheffing contains and that employers normally pay employee-insurance premiums themselves
• Belastingdienst: Several jobs - that only one simultaneous employer should apply the payroll tax credit and that the payslip shows whether it is applied
• Belastingdienst: What is on an annual income statement? - the fiscal wage, withholding, labour credit and optional untaxed allowances on a jaaropgaaf
• Belastingdienst: Work-related costs scheme - when reimbursements and benefits can be tax-free under the WKR and why a reimbursement is not automatically net or untaxed
• Business.gov.nl: Working Hours Act - that overtime counts as working time and that Dutch law sets no universal overtime premium
• Rijksoverheid: Wage continuation during sickness - the statutory sickness-pay percentages, the first-year minimum-wage floor and the role of the contract or CAO
• Rijksoverheid: Deductions for housing and health insurance - written authorisation, qualifying housing and 25% cap; policyholder and insurer-payment conditions and €2,098.80 health-insurance cap in 2026; work-limitation exception
• Business.gov.nl: Salary deductions and settlements - the distinction between statutory deductions, deductions that need written consent and protection of the minimum wage
• Rijksoverheid: What to do about minimum-wage underpayment - employer, Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie and subdistrict-court routes, the four-week repayment order and the five-year claim period
• Rijksoverheid: When must my employer pay my wage? - the late-pay uplift of 5% and then 1%, its 50% maximum, the court route and the court's power to reduce it
• Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie: Report unfair, unsafe or unhealthy work - reporting underpayment and exploitation online or by telephone; anonymous telephone reports for exploitation and 112 for immediate danger to life
• ABU: Collective Labour Agreement for Temporary Agency Workers 2026–2028 - agency payslip fields, conditional client details, holiday-allowance reservations, housing-rule scope, the 2026–2027 PKS price ceiling and its exceptions
• Rijksoverheid: Prevent identity fraud - the identity-fraud risks of personal data in payslips and annual statements, and protection of sensitive documents
• Rijksoverheid: Statutory interest - what statutory interest is and the 4% non-commercial statutory-interest rate from 1 January 2026
• Belastingdienst: Apply or stop payroll tax credit - one simultaneous payer, payslip checks and changing the setting with an employer or benefit payer
• Belastingdienst: Employer Zvw levy or employee contribution - employer-paid health-insurance levy versus employee contributions in specific situations
• SVB (Dutch social insurance agency): Additional pension - workplace pension as additional provision beside AOW; employee contributions through salary and recorded pension overviews
• Staatsblad (Dutch official law gazette) 2026, 279: Youth minimum-wage change - the lower BBL scale in 2026, increased youth rates and end of the BBL exception from 1 January 2027
• Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag (Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act): Articles 15–17 - holiday-allowance amount, lower or no allowance under specified agreements, and written agreement for different payment timing
• Burgerlijk Wetboek: Articles 7:625–626 - payslip delivery when any listed amount changes; explicit consent, saving and later access for digital payslips; late-pay increase, fault condition, percentages, cap and judicial reduction
• Belastingdienst: Handboek Loonheffingen 2026 (Payroll Taxes Handbook) - section 7.6.9: WGA recovery from net wages; sections 9.3.5–9.3.6 and 18.16: standard and special tax tables, arrears recalculation and compulsory regular-table cases, monthly holiday allowance, and the requested students’ and pupils’ scheme with its quarterly table
• Rijksoverheid: Check your protected income amount - protected income when earnings are attached and checking the notice from the attaching creditor
• Inburgeren.nl (official civic integration website): ONA exemption objections - payslips showing paid hours as evidence when objecting to an ONA exemption refusal
• UWV: Loondispensatie (wage dispensation) - approval for a wage below the statutory minimum, qualifying workers, and the decision and wage assessment
• Belastingdienst: Anonymous rate - Payroll must withhold 52% without the payroll tax credit if required personal details are missing or wrong, your identity is not established in time, or required residence or work permission is invalid. If you applied for a BSN and its delay is beyond both your control and your employer’s, provide evidence and ask payroll about the exception.
• Rijksoverheid: Bedragen minimumloon bbl-opleiding 2026 - Ask payroll to check the statutory BBL minimum when that contract applies. Higher pay agreed in your contract or cao remains due.