Dutch Unemployment Benefits
Information about unemployment benefits in the Netherlands, the percent payout, who is eligible and how soon you must submit the claim after being let go.
Dutch Unemployment Benefits
The UWV WERKbedrijf agency handles unemployment benefits claims in the Netherlands. There are WERK branches located throughout the country.
Unemployment benefits are paid at around 75% of the original wage for the first two months and 70% of the original wage for the following months. Benefits are paid based on how long the worker had been employed (not only the most recent job, but cumulative), with a minimum of 3 months benefit and maximum of 38 months.
While receiving Dutch unemployment benefits, the recipient must actively be looking for work, and must be able to prove the job-seeking activity.
NOTE: If a person waits longer than 20 days after losing their job to register with the UWV, they will lose their entitlement to benefits. It is best to register immediately upon becoming unemployed.
Unemployment Benefits Eligibility
The following groups of people are generally eligible for unemployment assistance in the Netherlands:
- Dutch nationals
- EU nationals living or working in the Netherlands, and their spouses and partners (even if these spouses and partners are not EU nationals)
- Nationals from Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland (EER) and Switzerland
- Non-EU nationals formerly in the possession of an employment-related residence permit, whose current unemployment is involuntary and who applied for an extension of their residence permit in time, as long as no final decisions were taken and no deportation measures were initiated
- Foreigners who hold a valid residence permit with the annotation “Arbeid vrij toegestaan. Een tewerkstellingsvergunning is niet vereist” (work permit not required)
- Non-EU nationals holding a valid asylum-related residence permit with the annotation “Arbeid is toegestaan indien de werkgever beschikt over een tewerkstellingsvergunning” (work permit required)
- Non-EU nationals holding a valid employment-related residence permit without the annotation “Arbeid vrij toegestaan. Een tewerkstellingsvergunning is niet vereist” (work permit not required), whose current unemployment is involuntary
In all cases, a the person must have experienced involuntary unemployment. Those who resign their position are not able to collect unemployment benefits.
Also, if it is reasonable that a person’s right to work in the Netherlands was almost at an end (e.g. a contract worker or a worker on a secondment) it is unlikely that an application for employment benefits will be approved.
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