Major unrest among ZP'ers over DBA law
Unrest among clients and self-employed workers about the DBA Act remains high, even as the cabinet presented plans to replace the controversial law in the coalition agreement. Some 60% of highly educated self-employed workers, often called independent professionals (zp'ers), are concerned that the DBA Act will remain in force until a replacement plan takes effect. Four in five of these zp'ers give as their reason that they still experience uncertainty, lack of clarity and unrest among clients. This is evident from the Wet DBA Opiniemonitor of HeadFirst, conducted in collaboration with ONL for Ondernemers and ZP Zaken among 775 entrepreneurs.
Minister Wouter Koolmees of Social Affairs and Employment recently expressed the expectation that adaptation of the DBA Act will probably take another two years. This is an unworkable situation for independent professionals. Hans Biesheuvel of ONL voor Ondernemers responds: “Uncertainty regarding the DBA Act costs clients and self-employed people tons of money every day. We cannot let this situation continue. We need a short-term solution now, then we can work on a sustainable solution.”
Zp'ers critical of plans
Independent professionals are well informed about the plans to replace the DBA Act: 84% know the ideas in detail or in outline. A large part (62%) considers the plans an improvement over the DBA Act, but nevertheless remains critical. For example, 'duration of assignment' and 'nature of the work' are considered inappropriate criteria to distinguish self-employed workers from employees. The self-employed are more positive about the criterion 'hourly rate'.
Almost 67% of the self-employed experience the criterion 'assignment duration' as negative. The most frequently cited reason is that independent professionals - highly educated and working for predominantly large clients - are usually hired for longer than a year, the maximum period for opting out of payroll tax and employee insurance. Some 61% of the self-employed do not like the criterion of “nature of work,” as it would be a subjective term that will mainly create more ambiguity. Zp'ers are more positive about the 'hourly rate' criterion. Over 48% respond optimistically and mainly feel that the low hourly rate provides protection. Of the negative and neutral responses, most self-employed people think that the set upper limit of €75 should be lowered.
Mike Korenvaar, Chief Financial Officer at HeadFirst, responds, “With this opinion monitor we have mapped how self-employed people think about the plans. If politicians are wise, they will take the opinion of the market seriously and not make the same mistakes when working out new legislation as they did with the DBA Act.” Korenvaar continues: “Sham self-employment must be tackled, everyone agrees on that, but that must not have a negative impact on the top end of the market. There, clients, self-employed workers and intermediaries must be able to do business with each other freely and with certainty.”
Need is high
The government recognizes the need for a solution to the DBA Act. A meeting on the future of the law will take place on January 24 at the Ministry of Finance. Here, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Wouter Koolmees, State Secretary of Finance Menno Snel and State Secretary of Economic Affairs and Climate Mona Keijzer will enter into discussion with market parties. Here ONL voor Ondernemers presents its plans for a practical solution. Hans Biesheuvel: “The legal frameworks that determine whether someone is self-employed or an employee are outdated. The law and tax regulations must be adjusted to do justice to the growing group of self-employed people. Until then, we need a practical solution that can be introduced in the short term and removes anxiety.”
The fact sheet with all the results of the Wet DBA Opiniemonitor can be downloaded for free at dbafeedback.nl.