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If you apply for a job in the Netherlands next year, the employer may no longer ask what you earned in your previous job. That is one of the pay transparency rules the Dutch government wants to bring in on 1 January 2027, according to Ondernemersplein (Business.gov.nl in English), the government’s information site for businesses. The date is not final yet: the bill still has to pass both houses of parliament.
The bill was sent to the House of Representatives on 21 May 2026 and comes from an EU directive on pay transparency, the Rijksoverheid reports. Besides the ban on asking about your last salary, employers must use an objective system to value and classify jobs, so that pay can be explained and checked. Employees get more insight into pay differences between men and women in their own workplace.
Larger employers also have to report. Companies with at least 150 employees report on their pay gap by 7 June 2028, covering 2027. Companies with 100 to 150 employees follow in 2031, covering 2030. You will be able to look up these figures on a website of the ministry (Rijksoverheid).
What does this mean for you?
Many expats come from countries where salaries are lower than in the Netherlands. Today a recruiter can ask what you earn now and build the offer on that number. Under the new rules that question is not allowed, so the discussion starts from the role and its pay scale instead of your old payslip.
An example: you earn €38,000 in your home country and apply for a role where Dutch peers earn around €55,000. If the employer cannot ask about the €38,000, there is less room to anchor the offer on it. The rules do not set your salary, and until parliament votes, nothing changes for applications you send this year.
What can you do now?
- Look up the market rate for your role with our salary checker and the average salary guide, so you can name a number based on the job.
- Read our salary negotiation guide before your next interview. Until the law applies, you may still politely decline to share your current salary.
- Working for a company with 150 or more staff? Expect its first pay gap report in 2028 and use it when you discuss your pay.