That’s right – EoR can be the answer to recent concerns following the much stricter enforcement of the DBA act in 2025. Freelancer misclassification is a huge topic in the Netherlands. The major issue that comes with this bogus self-employment is that an independent worker may be construed as a hidden employee by the Dutch tax office.  

This goes vice-versa – companies hiring freelancers with fewer than three clients can be interpreted as their official legal employers, especially if the freelancer is not on the books properly. As expected, this can affect both parties, leading them to face steep fines. You can find out more on this topic in our dedicated article.  

Luckily, there are two ways an Employer of Record can help: 

• Option one: The freelancer comes to us directly. We employ them through Blue Lynx and second them to their client. They keep working on the same projects but with the legal protection of employment. 

• Option two: The client company wants to keep working with the freelancer and avoid false employment. We hire the freelancer through our EoR model, and they become an official part of the team – without the risks that come with hiring them directly.

You can find out more on the topic of false employment in our dedicated article. 

Another common use case: An Australian organisation wanted to explore the Dutch market but wasn’t ready to set up shop just yet. They needed someone on the ground to research opportunities and build relationships. 

They had two options: hire someone locally or send their own team member to do it. Either way, they needed that person employed in the Netherlands. 

With Blue Lynx as their EoR, they were able to acquire a Dutch-based sales professional without opening an entity. Their market research started right away, and they avoided the admin headache of company formation, payroll and tax compliance. They made use of an additional Blue Lynx service – Direct Recruitment, to save time looking for the desired Sales Representative. 

Startups don’t usually have the infrastructure to sponsor work permits or keep up with Dutch labour laws. For most Dutch work visas (including highly skilled migrant permits), the employer must be recognised as a sponsor by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) and meet ongoing compliance, salary and reporting requirements. That’s a big ask when you’re still building your product. 

We, as the sponsor and an IND-certified business, can hire the developer via EoR and handle all legal employment obligations, seconding the developer to the tech startup. They now work full-time. Best of all, the startup didn’t have to worry about staying reputable, paying for HR or legal consultation, or spend numerous hours trying to wrap their head around Dutch labour law. 

Here’s a fun one: A developer with a successful mobile app business in the UK wanted to live and work in the Netherlands. He had a business partner back home, and he wanted to continue working on their applications from abroad. 

He got hired through our EoR structure on behalf of his UK business. We took care of the visa and employment setup – he now lives in the Netherlands legally, working full-time for his own organisation. 

We worked with a Canadian tech startup whose Product Manager had moved to the Netherlands. The company wanted to relocate the development team to join him – but they didn’t want to deal with the cost and complexity of setting up a Dutch firm right away.

Blue Lynx stepped in as the Employer of Record. The team got legal contracts, social benefits, pension and smooth onboarding. The company managed to test their expansion in Europe without committing to a permanent office or a lengthy setup process. 

A recent scenario involved a client from America who at first considered our EoR service too expensive. However, once he hopped into a call with us ,we explained the direct employment costs in the Netherlands. He realised hiring staff himself would have been just as pricey – if not more so. In the end, he was delighted to place his employees with us and concentrate on running his business, with no legal uncertainties, HR admin or payroll hassles. Just straightforward, stress-free growth. 

Following his successful beginning, we supported him as he expanded into the Dutch market. Our team organised everything: entity setup, local top talent recruitment and we also arranged the non-EU visas for some of his team members. He was able to scale up efficiently, knowing compliance, employment contracts and all the admin were taken care of.

Even for companies already based in the Netherlands, hiring new team members can be a challenge. Some lack internal HR support. Others want to keep things flexible, especially when growing fast or hiring for short-term projects. 

We take care of employment contracts, payroll, tax and all the admin. Your new hires are legally employed in the Netherlands, and you can focus on running your business. 

Before launching fully in the Netherlands, a company from outside the EU wanted to send a Managing Director to get things moving – she was tasked with finding an office, building a local strategy and potentially begin hiring. 

The problem was, the MD couldn’t work legally in the Netherlands without being employed locally. Setting up a business first would have taken months. 

We hired the MD through EoR, handled the visa and got her working in Amsterdam. From there, she had the freedom to establish the local branch at their desired pace.