The Council of State has thrown out a law banning asylum seekers from working more than 24 weeks a year after finding that it breached European rules.

The country’s highest administrative court upheld a decision by judges in Arnhem in April that a Nigerian man, named only as Elvis, should be given a new work permit after reaching the 24-week limit.

The cabinet had appealed against the decision, arguing that asylum seekers who work for more than six months become entitled to unemployment cover, which could lead to conflicts if their claims for refugee status are subsequently rejected.

Appeal court judges later reversed the lower court’s decision in favour of the employee insurance agency UWV, but MPeople, the Harderwijk-based recruitment agency that hired Elvis, took the case to the Council of State.

The decision means that the UWV will now have to extend work permits for thousands of asylum seekers whose claims are still being processed, the agency said.

Elvis, who did not want to disclose his last name, fled Nigeria with his girlfriend in 2020 and was working in a slaughterhouse in Harderwijk while living in asylum seeker accommodation when the UWV refused to extend his work permit.

Caretaker social affairs minister Karien van Gennip said the government was changing its guidelines with immediate effect to reflect the judgment, so that “employers also now know where they stand if they have an asylum seeker working for them”.

Maarten van Panhuis, director of MPeople, called the Council of State’s ruling “historic” and said between 40 and 50 asylum seekers on his agency’s books would benefit immediately.

“I’m so relieved,” he said. “The minister has said that she will respect the decision, so that means all asylum seekers in the Netherlands can now work for longer than 24 weeks.”

Employment minister Karien van Gennip said later the ruling made it clear that refugees who have been registered for more than six months should be able to work.

“They contribute to our society and learn the language more quickly,” she said. “And employers too know what the situation is if they have an asylum seeker on their books.”