Frequently Asked Questions of Normec VRO

According to Article 16, paragraph 7, the following elements must be confirmed in writing to the temporary worker if applicable. In case of any changes during the assignment, these must also be confirmed in writing.

1. The expected start date

2. The name and contact details of the client, including a contact person and work address if applicable

3. The (general) job title and, if available, the job title according to the client’s remuneration scheme

4. The job classification and salary level according to the client’s remuneration scheme, if available

5. The agreed working hours

6. If applicable, the estimated end date of the assignment

7. The collective labor agreement/remuneration scheme

8. The gross actual (hourly) wage

9. The applicable compensation for reduced working hours (ADV)

10. The applicable surcharges for overtime and/or shifted hours

11. The applicable irregularity allowance (including holiday allowance and allowances for physically demanding conditions)

12. The applicable shift allowance

13. The applicable travel expense reimbursement

14. Other applicable cost reimbursements

15. The applicable compensation for travel time or travel hours related to the work

1. The temporary employment agency is required to spend at least 1.02% of (the sum of) the actual wages of temporary workers employed in phase A on promoting the sustainable employability of temporary workers each year. The expenditure must be made no later than the calendar year following the year for which the expenditure obligation applies.

2. The portion of the 1.02% that is not spent on promoting the sustainable employability of temporary workers must be paid by the temporary employment agency to the DOORZAAM foundation. The payment of the unspent portion of the 1.02% must be made no later than two years after the year for which the spending obligation applies.

3. The spending obligation, including any transfer, shall be accounted for annually in a specific section of the annual accounts or in an auditor's report. At the request of the SNCU, the temporary employment agency shall provide the annual accounts or auditor's report to the SNCU.

4. The spending obligation and/or accountability may also be at the level of the group of temporary employment agencies. A group is understood to mean the group as referred to in Section 2:24 of the Dutch Civil Code.

The NBBU expects its members to take an active stance against discrimination in their business operations when recruiting and selecting personnel. The NBBU stipulates that its members must have an adequate policy in place to prevent discriminatory requests and behavior from clients. However, these requirements imposed by the NBBU on its members do not stem from the collective labor agreement but are included in the NBBU's internal regulations. The NBBU therefore argues that this check cannot be included in the audit document relating to the collective labor agreement for temporary workers and the collective labor agreement for permanent employees of temporary employment agencies. A separate report will therefore be drawn up for this, which may also mean that the inspection frequency with regard to the anti-discrimination policy differs from the inspection frequency with regard to the collective labor agreement audit. If deviations are found with regard to the anti-discrimination policy while no deviations are found in the collective labor agreement audit, this may result in a negative result for one audit and a positive result for the other, and vice versa.

No, that is not necessary. However, activities must take place that can be assessed based on the Paychecked in Transport standard. If you do not have any employees who fall under the Collective Labor Agreement for Professional Goods Transport, please contact us first.

Yes, you can. However, the Paychecked in Transport standard does impose certain requirements on cooperation with subcontractors and self-employed persons. It is advisable to first review these requirements and check whether your outsourcing arrangements comply with them.

The SNA quality mark is the quality mark for the temporary employment and payroll sector, subcontractors, and cleaning companies. The quality mark sets requirements for employers and subcontractors based in the Netherlands to ensure that they are organized in such a way that labor obligations are met. This limits the risks for employers and clients.

Prior to the inspection, you will be asked to send a few documents to the inspector. The inspector will review your documents so that he or she is well prepared for the inspection.

On the day of the inspection, the inspector will begin with an introductory discussion and then assess your company against all applicable standards. You will provide the inspector with all necessary information, and the inspector will take random samples from your records.

At the end of the inspection, the inspector will conduct a final interview and discuss the preliminary findings with you. You will usually receive the report with the assessment within four weeks of the inspection. If the assessment is positive, you will be definitively registered in the SNA register.

The SNA quality mark is not required by law. However, it is widely recognized within the industry, and clients will appreciate it if you are SNA certified.

All certified institutions can be found in the public SNA register.

The SNA quality mark is the quality mark for temporary employment agencies and (sub)contractors. This also includes secondment agencies and payroll organizations.

The SNA quality mark is not a legal requirement, but it is widely supported within the sector. This means that your organization benefits from many advantages, such as new clients giving you preference over non-certified competitors. The quality mark is, for example, a requirement for membership of industry associations such as ABU, NBBU, and Schoonmakend Nederland.

After the quality mark has been awarded, your personnel administration, payroll administration, financial administration, and sector-specific collective labor agreement compliance (if applicable) must generally be inspected every six months in order to retain the SNA quality mark.

The SNA quality mark sets requirements for, among other things, the financial administration and payroll and personnel administration of companies that provide workers (such as the temporary employment sector and the ICT sector) and for contractors and subcontractors. These requirements consist of Dutch legislation and regulations, supplemented by requirements set by the SNA scheme.

Each company is checked on the following points:

• The identity of the organization;

• The declaration and payment of payroll taxes and sales tax;

• Any conflict between wage payments and the Minimum Wage Act (WML);

• The personnel files;

• The prevention of risks through the hiring, secondment, or outsourcing of work. This includes the hiring of workers from companies that carry the SNA quality mark;

• Assessment of collective labor agreement elements for companies falling within the scope of the ABU, NBBU, or CAO Vlees collective labor agreements.

If the organization meets the requirements to a sufficient extent, it will be included in the register. If the company does not fully comply with the standard, there is an opportunity to remedy the shortcomings.

Your organization can be inspected once a wage payment has been made and the resulting initial (tax) obligations have been fulfilled. There is no need to wait to apply for the SNA Quality Mark. For example, you can register your organization for the SNA Quality Mark today, and once you know when the first payments have been made, the inspection can take place.

If you would like to apply for the SNA Quality Mark at Normec VRO, please enter your details here. You must also register with the Stichting Normering Arbeid (Labor Standards Foundation).

How quickly the inspection for the SNA Quality Mark can be carried out depends on:

• Your application: how quickly can you provide all the requested information?

• Your payment of the invoice for the SNA entry fee: after you have signed a contract with us, you will receive an invoice.

• Once the invoice has been paid, your application will be finalized and the inspection will be scheduled in consultation with you.

The rate for the SNA inspection is calculated based on factors including the number of employees (FTE). We always charge an all-inclusive rate for the inspection. This means that we do not charge extra for travel expenses, certificate costs, or registration fees. In addition, you pay the Labor Standards Foundation a one-time entrance fee of €180.00 and an annual registration fee of €245.00.

Prior to the inspection, you will be asked to send a few documents to the inspector. The inspector will review your documents so that he or she is well prepared for the inspection.

On the day of the inspection, the inspector will start with an introductory meeting and assess your company against all applicable standards. You will provide the inspector with all the necessary information, and the inspector will take random samples from your records.

At the end of the inspection, a final meeting will be held with you, and the inspection results will be discussed.

The size of the sample depends on the risks and the control measures taken. The sample includes, among other things, the personnel file. Each file is checked for completeness in terms of contracts, ID documents, and payroll tax statements, correct salary processing, and, if applicable, a number of collective labor agreement elements.

After the inspection, our inspector will assess the standard requirements. Once he or she has discussed the findings with you, an inspection report will be drawn up. This will be finalized by the inspector and forwarded to a reviewer for our internal quality control.

After the review, you will receive the report from us and the inspection result will be forwarded to SNA. SNA will then include your company in the register of certified companies.

The first inspection for the SNA Quality Mark can take place when:

• At least one payroll run has taken place

• At least one payroll tax return has been submitted and paid

• And at least one sales tax return has been submitted and paid.

Every initial inspection takes time. An initial inspection in particular requires a little more time so that the inspector can get a good first impression of the company and explain what the inspector and you can expect from each other.

As with every inspection, the inspector familiarizes himself with the company and its procedures. The inspector must inspect the records, check them for accuracy and completeness, ask for any missing documents, check and enter them, provide information, draw up the inspection report, and carry out random checks on various parts of your records. You can also ask the inspector questions; consider him or her your ‘knowledge base’ with regard to the matters covered by the inspection.

Companies that do not yet have the SNA quality mark

For companies that do not yet have the SNA quality mark, the audit period is the current and previous financial year. If the company was established during the audit period, the period starts from that moment.

Companies that already have the SNA quality mark

Depending on the results of the inspection, the inspection frequency is usually six months.

The first two inspections are full inspections, covering all standard requirements. Six months after the second full inspection, a shortened inspection takes place. From that moment on, the shortened and full inspections alternate every six months.

If deviations from certain requirements are found, this may lead to additional or interim inspections. Under certain conditions, you may be eligible for a reduction in the inspection frequency after two full inspections.

During the inspection, it may become apparent that your company does not meet a specific requirement of the standard, which may result in an increased risk of chain liability or hirer's liability. In this case, we refer to a minor non-conformity. The next inspection will assess whether you have succeeded in resolving the identified deviation(s). If so, the company will remain registered in the Labor Standards Foundation's register. If this has not been achieved, it is no longer a minor non-conformity but a major non-conformity.

For certain standard requirements, the standard specifies an inspection frequency of three months, in which case you will have to implement corrective measures within three months.

If a major non-conformity is identified during the inspection, it is determined that the company does not comply with a specific NEN 4400-1 and/or NEN 4400-2 requirement that immediately poses a high risk. Before we finalize the report and send it to SNA, Normec VRO will send you the draft report. You will have 10 working days to respond to this draft report (hearing and rebuttal). Once the report is final and contains a negative assessment, your company will be suspended from the SNA register.

In that case, you will still have the opportunity to implement the necessary corrective measures within 30 working days. Normec VRO will then assess within 30 working days whether you have succeeded in doing so to a sufficient extent. Once the report has been finalized, we will conduct an additional investigation based on the corrective measures you have implemented.

If the assessment is positive, the suspension from the register of the Labor Standards Foundation can be lifted. If the assessment is not positive, your company will be permanently removed from the register of the Labor Standards Foundation.

The inspection frequency may be adjusted: inspections may be carried out more frequently or less frequently. Normally, a physical inspection is carried out at the company every year. If the company meets all the conditions for reducing the frequency, it will be eligible for annual inspections.

In order to guarantee quality and reliability in the cleaning sector, the Dutch cleaning industry association Schoonmakend Nederland introduced a quality mark in 2013. With Keurmerk Schoon, formerly known as the OSB quality mark, cleaning and window cleaning companies demonstrate that their services, personnel and financial administration, and application of the collective labour agreement are in order.

The costs for the Clean Quality Mark consist of three different components:

• Membership fee for Schoonmakend Nederland. Read more about the structure of the membership fee for Schoonmakend Nederland here.

• Inspection costs.

• Registration fees for SNA.

Feel free to contact us for more information about the costs of Keurmerk Schoon.

In 2013, employment agency Randstad, mortgage lender Obvion, and homeowners' association Vereniging Eigen Huis began developing the Perspective Statement.

Since then, more employment agencies and mortgage lenders have become involved in the Perspective Statement, and the standard has been incorporated into the Perspective Statement Foundation.

Normec VRO has been actively involved in the creation of the Perspective Statement.

Employment agencies certified by certified institutions are permitted to issue Perspective Statements to temporary workers. The certified employment agencies are listed in the register of the Perspective Statement Foundation.

The Perspective Statement Foundation is the owner of the standards framework for the Perspective Statement. The foundation maintains the register of certified employment agencies and aims to “guarantee the quality of the Perspective Statements issued.”

The “Programma van Eisen Uitzendondernemingen” (Program of Requirements for Temporary Employment Agencies) specifies the matters that temporary employment agencies must have in order to be certified. Ensure that your organisation meets the requirements and establishes a procedure for this.

To become certified for the Perspective Statement, a number of your temporary workers (applicants for the Perspective Statement) must have completed the procedure you have drawn up. The inspection body can then carry out an inspection to assess whether the process meets all the requirements.

The certification process starts by registering with the Perspective Statement Foundation. After receiving your registration, they will ensure that Normec VRO contacts you to make arrangements for an inspection. Normec VRO will request a number of documents from you, such as a management statement and a risk analysis.

After assessing these documents, an inspector will visit your organization and take a random sample of files of temporary workers who have applied for the Perspective Statement from you. The qualifications of the perspective assessor will also be assessed and your organization will be checked to see whether it has the SNA quality mark.

The findings of the inspection are recorded in an inspection report, in which the inspector states whether your organization meets the standard requirements. If there are any deviations, you must indicate how these deviations arose and ensure that they are resolved. If there are no (more) deviations, a positive result will be included in the inspection report and Normec VRO will inform the Perspective Statement Foundation of the positive inspection result. The Foundation will then decide whether your organization will be included in the register.

If you are certified for the Perspective Statement, your organization will be periodically audited by Normec VRO. The first audit will take place one year after the initial certification. After that, your organization will be audited every two years.

When certifying your organization for the Perspective Statement, the following topics are assessed:

• Requirements for the company

• Requirements for the perspective appraiser

• Requirements for the application procedure

• Requirements for the labor market value scan

The initial inspection will focus more on the correct and complete procedure. Follow-up inspections will mainly check whether the procedure has been correctly followed for each application by means of a random sample and whether the procedure is being maintained.

Prior to the inspection visit, you must submit the following documents:

• A list of the company or companies that wish to be certified for the Perspective Statement;

• A recent extract from the Chamber of Commerce;

• Name and position of the perspective appraiser(s);

• A management statement confirming that the perspective assessor(s) is/are independent of the commercial process and can assess whether the application procedure has been completed correctly;

• A risk analysis (a checklist for this is included in the set of standards) An overview of applicants (your flex workers) for the Perspective Statement.

During the inspection, the inspector will assess whether your organization meets all the standard requirements.

The initial inspection for the Prospect Statement is carried out separately. Subsequent periodic inspections can (where possible) be combined with inspections for the SNA quality mark, for example.

The initial inspection for the Prospect Statement is carried out separately. Subsequent periodic inspections can (where possible) be combined with inspections for the SNA quality mark, for example.

Until September 1, 2021, the Flexwonen Standards Foundation (Stichting Normering Flexwonen) had two standards: the “regular” SNF standard for housing migrant workers and the standard for the SNF temporary employment register. As of September 1, 2021, the distinction between SNF regular and SNF temporary employment has been abolished and there is now only one register. The hiring register therefore no longer exists. The SNF standard for organizations that offer housing for migrant workers covers space and privacy, sanitary facilities, safety and hygiene, amenities, information provision, other requirements, and fire safety. Each part of the standard consists of a number of specific requirements that the housing must meet.

If your organization complies with the standard for the SNF Quality Mark, your company will be included in the register of the Flexwonen Standards Foundation. The Flexwonen Standards Foundation has two registers. An organization that is included in the ‘regular’ SNF register meets the standard for housing migrant workers. An organization that does not manage its own housing but hires all housing for migrant workers from SNF-registered companies can apply for the SNF hiring register.

First, register with the Flexwonen Standards Foundation. There you can indicate your preference for Normec VRO as the inspection body. We will then contact you to discuss further details and schedule an inspection. Where possible, we will visit your organization and (a sample of) your locations. The locations will be inspected together with someone from your organization.

Our findings will be communicated to you both verbally and in writing. We will also report the results of the inspection to the Flexwonen Standards Foundation.

The location overview lists all locations that you hire. You must also include locations that you hire through an SNF-certified organization in the location overview. The number of locations to be inspected is determined based on the total number of locations.

During the inspection for the SNF quality mark, it may become apparent that your company does not meet a specific requirement of the standard, which could lead to an increased risk at a later stage. If this is the case, it is referred to as a minor non-conformity. During the next inspection, an assessment will be made to determine whether you have succeeded in resolving the deviation(s) identified.

If so, the company will remain registered in the Flexwonen Standards Foundation register. If the deviation identified has not been resolved, this is referred to as a major non-conformity and a re-inspection will be carried out by the inspector.