The laws covering employment in the Netherlands are many and various. Your personal contract will determine your pay and specific conditions. Dutch legislation covers key areas such as trial periods, holidays, notice and dismissal, minimum wages (get ready with the calculator for that one), health and safety and equal treatment.

The system for dismissal is particularly unusual in being so protective of the employee: in some cases the employer needs permission from the Centre for Work and Income (CWI) to fire you.  Useful information regarding working practises, labour law and the minimum wage can be found on the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment website (www.employment.gov.nl) or CWI portal www.werk.nl.

If you want to check the market rate for your salary or calculate bruto/netto rates (before/after tax and social security deductions), then try website www.loonwijzer.nl. It is standard practice in the Netherlands to get an extra wages (usually 8% of salary) for holidays (normally paid in May) and four weeks of paid leave.

A contract should include:

• Name and address of employer and employee and where you will be working.
•  Job title and description of work.
• Start/end dates. Contracts can be of fixed length (will include start and end dates), or indeterminate length (contract end with notice).
• Trial period (if any). If the contract is for less than two years, the trial period is generally one month (unless agreed otherwise with the CAO, but the maximum is two months)
•  Hours of work.
• Wages and other expenses.
• Notice for termination for both you and your employer.

Collective Labour Agreement (CAO)
This is a written agreement covering working conditions and benefits that is drawn up by employers, employers' organisations and employee organisations (such as unions). A CAO operates at company or industry sector level and the provisions (number of holidays, for example) are often more generous than statutory requirements. It should state in your contract whether a CAO is applicable – you don't have to be a member of a union to benefit. If no CAO applies – they all have to be registered – you will need to negotiate your own terms and condition. The largest trade union federation in the Netherlands is the FNV (www.fnv.nl).

Know your entitlements