I work in the transport sector. Do I have to provide notification in the Netherlands through the online notification portal?
There are several exceptions in the transport sector to the rules for notification of foreign workers. For example, most transport workers have no duty to notify, and the option of annual notification is available for freight transport by road.
Annual notification in the transport sector
You can take advantage of the option to provide notification annually if you work as a service provider or self-employed person in the sector Freight transport by road (Standard Industrial Classification group H 494). This also applies if you provide services for a service recipient established in the Netherlands.
As a foreign employer, you have since 2 February 2022 also had the option of providing notification through the new EU portal Road Transport – Posting Declaration for transport activities that fall under the new Directive 2020/1057/EU on cabotage and third-country transport. If you provide notification through this European portal you do not have to submit an annual notification.
Sectors without a duty to notify
You do not have to notify as a service provider or self-employed person if you work in one of the sectors classified as follows in the Standard Industrial Classification:
- 491 Passenger rail transport (no tram or metro);
- 492 Freight rail transport;
- 493 Passenger transport by road;
- 494 Freight transport by road, as long as the work consists only of transport of goods through the Netherlands without loading or unloading them in the Netherlands;
- 50 Water transport;
- 51 Air transport;
- 53 Postal and courier activities.
If you work in another category, however, you must provide notification.
Annual notification for cabotage
If you transport goods between 2 points in the Netherlands (cabotage) or if you load or unload freight in the Netherlands as part of an international journey, you must provide notification of your drivers in the online notification portal. This can be done by filing an annual notification for foreign workers.
No notification for transit
In the case of transit, with no freight being loaded or unloaded in the Netherlands, you do not need to provide notification of your drivers.
Self-employed international lorry drivers
If you are a self-employed lorry driver, you must also provide notification of temporary work in the Netherlands if you do not normally work here and you are loading and/or unloading goods in the Netherlands.
More information about transport sector collective agreements
You can get more information about collective labour agreements in the freight transport sector from the Vervoersbond Naleving cao Beroepsgoederenvervoer (in Dutch), the association that monitors the implementation of collective agreements in the freight transport sector.