Fixed-Term Contract Not Renewed in The Hague? Check the Chain Rule First

Why this comes up in The Hague

The Hague runs on fixed-term employment more than any other Dutch city. International institutions, NGOs, government contractors and the consultancies orbiting them staff projects to funding cycles, which produces exactly the pattern the chain rule was written to catch: the same person, the same desk, renewed annually. Because the sector treats a series of one-year contracts as normal, both sides often assume the arrangement can continue indefinitely. Article 7:668a BW says otherwise.

Two separate limits, either of which converts the contract

Article 7:668a BW sets two independent triggers. Exceed either and the last fixed-term contract counts as permanent.

Note the total-duration figure carefully, because it is very widely misstated as three years. It is 24 months. The 36-month rule applied before 2015; the Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans restored 24 months on 1 January 2020 and that is still the law in August 2026. If someone has told you that you have three years to run, check the date they learned it.

• More than three successive fixed-term contracts, with gaps of no more than six months between them - the fourth is permanent.
• Successive fixed-term contracts exceeding 24 months in total, counting the gaps, with gaps of no more than six months - the contract running when you pass 24 months is permanent.
• A gap of more than six months resets the chain entirely and counting starts again.

The chain follows the work, not the employer's name

The rule applies across successive employers where they are reasonably to be regarded as each other's successors in respect of the work. Being moved from an agency onto the client's payroll, or from one entity in a group to another, does not necessarily restart the count - and in The Hague, where staff are routinely transferred between a project entity and its parent, this matters more than usual.

So reconstruct the actual history before accepting that the chain is short: every contract, every start and end date, every gap, and every employer name including agencies and payroll intermediaries.

Exceptions that genuinely apply

A collective labour agreement can stretch the limits to six contracts or 48 months, but only for temporary agency work or where the intrinsic nature of the work requires it - not simply because the CAO says so for everyone. If your employer relies on a CAO, the question is whether your role falls inside that specific provision.

Separate carve-outs exist for vocational training (BBL) contracts, for employees under 18 working twelve hours a week or less on average, and for employees who have reached state pension age, where the limits are 48 months or six contracts.

If it has converted, the ending was unlawful in form

A permanent contract does not expire. To end it, the employer needs a recognised ground and must use the right route - the subdistrict judge for most grounds, UWV for economic redundancy or long-term illness - and must observe the statutory notice period under article 7:672 BW, which lengthens with your service.

Simply letting the date pass is not one of the available options. That gap between what happened and what the law required is the basis of a claim, and it is time-sensitive, so the reconstruction of the contract history is worth doing quickly.

A change is coming, but it is not law yet

The Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers passed the Tweede Kamer in May 2026 and the Eerste Kamer in July 2026. It will replace the six-month gap with a much longer interruption period - set at 36 months after amendment, not the five years reported earlier in the process - which makes it far harder to reset a chain by pausing.

Commencement is by royal decree and has not been fixed. Reporting suggests the ketenregeling changes take effect no earlier than 1 January 2028. Until then the six-month gap is the law that applies to your situation.

What this page is based on

• Article 7:668a BW - the chain rule (ketenregeling)
• Article 7:672 BW - statutory notice periods
• Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers - passed both chambers in 2026, not yet in force

Checked against wetten.overheid.nl and rechtspraak.nl in August 2026. Dutch employment law changes, and several reforms described here have passed parliament without yet being in force - where that is the case the page says so.

Common questions

Other employment situations

• RotterdamLong-term sick leave and reintegrationYour employer carries dated obligations during long-term illness. Missing them has consequences for the employer, not for you.
• EindhovenNon-compete clause blocking a moveMany non-competes in fixed-term contracts are void on their face, because the required written motivation is missing.
• UtrechtOn-call and zero-hours workTwelve months of on-call work triggers a duty to offer fixed hours - and cancelled shifts still have to be paid.