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 offers greater clarity and certainty regarding your employment 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 bonuses, 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 amount you receive per hour. The 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 get 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 colleagues at the same company receive 30 vacation days?
  In that case, the difference will be added to your pay.
• Example 2 – Profit-sharing
  Do your colleagues at your company receive a profit-sharing payment?
  If so, starting January 1, 2026, this will be taken into account when determining your terms of employment.
• Example 3 – Continued Pay During Sick Leave
  Currently, if you are 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 salary during sick leave?
  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 terms of employment will be before January 1!

Better Pension Planning

The pension plan is also changing. Starting January 1, 2026, you will start accruing more pension. This means you’ll be saving more for the future. 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 is 8%, and starting January 1, 2026, it will be 15.9%. You will also pay a portion yourself; 7.5% (currently 4%).

Pension is part of your employment benefits. That is why we also look at the pension plan offered by the company where you work:

• Are the pension arrangements better there? If so, you'll receive an additional payment.
• Is the pension plan there less favorable or not properly set up? In that case, nothing will change for you. You will 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 are in determines the type of contract you receive.
Changes are coming. They are likely to take effect on January 1, 2027. This depends on a new law that 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. During this phase, you may be offered several short-term contracts.
  This will remain unchanged.
• Phase B
  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 is getting longer
Currently, you start over in Phase A if you haven’t worked for a staffing 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 will only start over in Phase A if you haven’t worked for a staffing 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!