Do you, as an employer, wish to hire an employee from outside the EU (excluding Croatia) / EEA, or Switzerland or is this employee temporarily coming to work for you? Take note! As an employer you are often required to have a work permit (TWV) or a single permit for residency and employment (GVVA). If you do not have a work permit and this employee still works for you, then your company risks being charged with an € 8.000,00 fine for illegal employment. Not having an employment contract with this employee does not change anything! If you wish to apply for a work permit, we are happy you to assist.
Applying for a work permit is not simple and it is a lengthy administrative process. A work permit is applied for at the UWV (Netherlands Employees Insurance Agency). They assess whether there are no suitable candidates from the Netherlands or other EU Member States to fill the position (prioritised labour market supply). In addition, the vacancy has to have been reported to the UWV for at least 5 weeks, and as an employer you need to have undertaken sufficient efforts to find a suitable candidate before you may apply for a work permit. Furthermore, it is assessed whether the terms of employment are in conformity with the market and whether the employer has ever been fined by the Inspectorate SZW (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment ) or the Belastingdienst (Tax and Customs Administration).
Therefore it is important to make an appointment with Ahladvocaten’s immigration attorneys early, because we are able to advise you on whether or not there are any exceptions to the TWV obligation requirement for you. There are many kinds of employment that are exempt from the TWV requirement depending on its nature and duration (business meetings, the assembly or repair of delivered machines, and the installation of software, for example), or sometimes a type of permit may give you right to a TWV exemption (highly skilled migrant or work on a self-employed basis, for example). If you are planning to hire a foreign employee or are in doubt about whether your current employee is allowed to work, then please contact us!