Cross-Border Catch-Up: 2026 Employment Law Changes in Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands

Announcer: Welcome to the Ogletree Deakins podcast, where we provide listeners with brief discussions about important workplace legal issues. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast service. Please consider rating this podcast so we can get your feedback and improve our programs. Please enjoy the podcast.

Shirin Aboujawde: Welcome to the Cross-Border Catch-Up, the podcast for global employers who want to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide. My name is Shirin Aboujawde, and I’m here with my colleague, Goli Rahimi. And we are cross-border attorneys at Ogletree Deakins. Today, we’re setting the stage for some of the major employment law shifts that multinational businesses will want to keep an eye on. We’ll focus on three countries: Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. These are just a sample of the many changes taking effect in 2026.

Goli Rahimi: Thanks, Shirin, and that’s right. So, let’s first kick things off in Poland, where a change to how “length of services calculated” is going to have big implications for both employers and employees. So, in Poland, as in many countries outside the United States, an employee’s length of service really determines their statutory entitlements, things like notice of termination, severance payments, and even paid leave. But starting in the new year on January 1st, Poland’s Labor Code is going to expand what counts towards that service.

Shirin Aboujawde: Wow, that is a big shift. Previously, only time spent under an employment contract counted. But under the new law, other types of work, like self-employment, military service or other periods of running a business where social insurance contributions were paid is now going to be included.

Goli Rahimi: Exactly. So, let’s take an example to see how this is going to work in practice. Shirin, imagine that you were self-employed for two years and you contributed to social insurance during that time. Then an opportunity came up, and you joined your current employer, and you’ve worked there for three years. So, under the current rules as they stand now in 2025, only those three years that you have worked with your employer are going to count towards your length of service or your seniority. But under the new system starting in January, those two years that you spent self-employed and contributing to social insurance are going to count too. So, that means you’re going to end up having five years of recognized service, instead of three.

Shirin Aboujawde: That’s right. So, in turn, that means longer notice periods, bigger severance, and possibly more annual leave. Definitely something employers may want to take into consideration, tracking it carefully in their HR systems come January.

Goli Rahimi: Absolutely. So, now from Poland, let’s move west over to Belgium, where there’s a change that’s shorter in duration, but long overdue.

Shirin Aboujawde: I like that. You’re talking about the new cap on notice periods, right?

Goli Rahimi: I am. So, again, as of January 1st, 2026, notice periods for employer-initiated terminations are going to be capped at 52 weeks.

Shirin Aboujawde: Wow, Goli. Currently, some of the notice periods can stretch beyond a year, right?

Goli Rahimi: They can. They can even go up to or past 66 weeks for employees that have a really long service period. So, what this means is that the cap that’s going to be introduced starting in January is designed to bring more predictability for employers, especially when they’re terminating senior or long tenured employees.

Shirin Aboujawde: But Goli, what happens to people already working before the law kicks in?

Goli Rahimi: Good question. So, the new rule is going to be prospective. Anyone hired before January 1st, 2026, is going to keep their existing rights and, of course, those notice periods. But here’s the interesting part: The 52-week cap is only going to start to impact new hires once they’ve hit about 17 years of service. So, in practice, even though this rule is going to go into effect in 2026, we might not really see its effects until 2043.

Shirin Aboujawde: Got it. So, this is definitely a long game for Belgian employers?

Goli Rahimi: Yes. It’s a long game, but it’s a short notice.

Shirin Aboujawde: You are loving the puns today. Okay. Let’s hop over to the Netherlands, where there’s been a lot of buzz about something called VBAR.

Goli Rahimi: That’s right. So, the VBAR, or its official name, which is the Clarification of Assessment of Labor Relations and Legal Presumption Act, is definitely one to watch. VBAR is designed to tighten the distinction between employees, and self-employed contractors, and to crack down on so called false self-employment.

Shirin Aboujawde: I’ve actually been hearing a lot about this, and it’s been a long time coming. So, basically, if you’re working under the company’s direction, integrated into their organization and not bearing business risk yourself, you’re probably an employee, not an independent contractor, right?

Goli Rahimi: Yes. That’s exactly right. And here’s another big one. The VBAR actually introduces a legal presumption that anyone that earns below a certain hourly rate is going to be considered an employee. What’s that exact threshold? It’s still in flux. It’s gone back and forth, but it’s usually been somewhere in the 30s, so 30 to 35 euros per hour, but we’ll have to see where that ultimately lands. What this means is that if that presumption applies, the burden is going to shift to the company to prove that this individual is genuinely self-employed and is not a true employee.

Shirin Aboujawde: That’s a game changer, especially for businesses that rely on flexible freelance or platform workers.

Goli Rahimi: Yeah. And it’s worth noting that this law was actually originally scheduled to take effect this summer in July of 2025, but implementation has been postponed to January 1st at the earliest due to public feedback, which means there’s even a chance that it could be pushed back yet again.

Shirin Aboujawde: Okay. So, for now, employers may want to keep an eye on developments and consider assessing how their contractor relationships might look under the new criteria, but they don’t need to jump to change their contracts just yet?

Goli Rahimi: Exactly. That’s right.

Shirin Aboujawde: Thanks, Goli. And thank you all for joining us for today’s Cross-Border Catch-Up. Follow us to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide.

Announcer: Thank you for joining us on the Ogletree Deakins podcast. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or through your favorite podcast service. Please consider rating and reviewing so that we may continue to provide the content that covers your needs. And remember, the information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.