The social affairs ministry is set to establish its own agency to certify staffing agencies in an effort to eliminate dodgy companies that underpay and exploit workers from outside the Netherlands.

The decision means that the legislation, which has been stalled for almost a year, can now be debated by MPs.

The aim of the legislation is to ensure that only certified companies supply staff to Dutch firms, particularly in low-skilled sectors such as farm work and meat processing. Legislation has been under discussion since 2020 but is only now becoming a reality.

“Many labour migrants live and work in poor conditions,” said minister Eddy van Hijum. “Bad staffing agencies have made underpayment and the provision of poor housing part of their earnings model.”

The decision to establish a specialist agency is positive, but “when will it become operational?” Malgorzata Bos-Karczewska, an expert in EU labour migration, told Dutch News.

The government has increased the provision of information to labour migrants, but “little is being done about the core problems,” she said.

“It is the 21st century, and the foundations for labour migration are still shaky,” she said. “But the Netherlands, with its ageing population, is going to need even more foreign workers in the future.”

According to some estimates, there are currently 14,000 staffing agencies operating in the Netherlands. Some 500,000 people from other EU countries work in Netherlands, mainly in farming, distribution centres, factories and the meat industry.