As of January 1, 2026, a significant change will come into force in the regulations of the CAO Schoonmaak (collective labor agreement for the cleaning sector). This change affects all cleaning companies and employers who employ workers under the sector’s CAO.
What exactly is changing?
From next year onwards, the use of so-called “oproepovereenkomst” (on-call or zero-hours employment contracts) will no longer be permitted in the cleaning industry.
This means that all employees must be employed on contracts with a fixed number of working hours.
What does this mean in practice for employers?
If an employee does not work in a certain month or works fewer hours, the employer is still obliged to pay the number of hours stipulated in the contract.
An exception applies only if the employee takes leave, which must also be paid as usual.
Employers will no longer be able to claim that there is no work available — the employee’s wages will still be due.
Why is this tightening of the rules being introduced?
The aim of the regulation is to reduce employees’ vulnerability and to promote responsible and predictable employment practices by employers.
On-call contracts often resulted in unpredictable income. From 2026 onwards, the sector will therefore uniformly switch to stable and guaranteed working hours.
How will compliance with the rules be monitored?
Compliance will be monitored by the sectoral pension fund (pensioenfonds).
They have clear insight into:
the registered working hours,
wage payments,
the calculation and payment of pension contributions.
Incorrectly structured contracts will be easy to identify, and failure to comply with the regulations may result in fines or other consequences.
What do employers need to do?
Existing employment contracts must be reviewed.
On-call or zero-hours contracts must be converted into contracts with fixed working hours.
It is advisable to start modifying contracts during 2025 to ensure a smooth transition.
Summary
From 2026 onwards, only employment contracts with fixed and guaranteed working hours will be allowed in the cleaning sector.
For employers, this means greater responsibility; for employees, it means more stable income.