New Collective Bargaining Agreement for Temporary Workers Effective January 1, 2026

Reading time: 8 minutes

The new collective bargaining agreement provides for better terms regarding work, income, and retirement. It also gives you more clarity and certainty about your work situation.

Equal Pay

Starting January 1, 2026, new rules regarding compensation will take effect. If you work for a company through UBN (or another staffing agency), your compensation must be equal to that of people doing the same or similar work at that company. Compensation for work includes wages and allowances, as well as pension benefits, vacation days, and, for example, continued pay during sick leave. UBN translates these types of agreements from the client into an additional hourly rate for you. The specific terms don’t have to be exactly the same, but together they must be worth the same amount. That means: at the end of the day, you’ll receive the same total. The details may vary slightly, but the total is the same.

• Example 1 – Vacation Days
  According to the collective bargaining agreement, you are still entitled to 25 vacation days.
  Do your coworkers at the same company get 30 vacation days?
  In that case, the difference will be added to your pay.
• Example 2 – Profit-Sharing Payment
  Do your colleagues at your company receive a profit-sharing payment?
  If so, starting January 1, 2026, that payment will be taken into account when determining your terms of employment.
• Example 3 – Continued Pay During Sickness
  Currently, if you’re sick, you receive 90% of your pay in the first year and 80% in the second year.
  Does your employer continue to pay 100% of your pay during sickness?
  If so, that difference will be included in your terms of employment starting January 1, 2026.

UBN has already started reviewing its clients’ collective bargaining agreements. You’ll find out exactly what your new employment terms will be before January 1!

Better Pension Planning

The pension plan is also changing. Starting January 1, 2026, you’ll start accruing more pension. That means you’ll be saving more for later. The contribution rate (the amount you pay toward your pension) will increase from 12% to 23.4%. UBN pays the largest portion of your pension contribution; currently, that’s 8%, and starting January 1, 2026, it will be 15.9%. You’ll also pay a portion yourself: 7.5% (currently 4%).

A pension is part of your employment benefits. That’s why the pension plan at the company where you work is also taken into account:

• Are the pension benefits better there? If so, you'll receive an additional payment.
• Is the pension there less favorable or not properly arranged? In that case, nothing will change for you. You’ll keep your own pension plan.

Phases and Contracts: What's Changing?

Temporary workers operate under a three-phase system: A, B, and C. The phase you’re in determines what type of contract you’ll receive.
Changes are coming. They’ll likely take effect on January 1, 2027. This depends on a new law the government is drafting. The phases will look like this:

• Phase A
  This phase lasts for 52 weeks of work, starting from your first day on the job. You may be offered several short-term contracts during this phase.
  This will remain as it is now.
• Phase B
  It currently lasts 3 years. This will be reduced to 2 years. During those 2 years, you may receive a maximum of 6 contracts.
• Phase C
  You will then be offered a permanent contract. This phase will not change.

The break between jobs will be longer
Currently, you start over in Phase A if you haven’t worked for a temporary employment agency for more than 6 months. This is also likely to change on January 1, 2027. The break will then be 60 months (5 years). This means you’ll only start over in Phase A if you haven’t worked for a temporary employment agency for more than 5 years.

We also have a short video with explanations in several languages: Dutch | English | Polish | Ukrainian

Questions?
Do you have any questions about these changes? Please discuss them with your UBN contact person. They’ll be happy to help you!