Important changes in 2022

The new year often also signify changes in policies and legislation in the Netherlands. Here is a list of important changes that may affect expats and internationals.

New Civic Integration Act from 1 January 2022

Starting 1 January, municipalities will be in charge of the implementation of the civic integration process. This means that people who have to integrate are no longer responsible for choosing a language school.

This act introduces three new integration pathways:

• The B1 route – a route for learning Dutch and doing paid or unpaid work. This will allow people to learn the language within 3 years and carry out paid or voluntary work at the same time. (The B1 level requirement has been postponed, which means that the minimum language requirement for the civic integration diploma is still at A2 level until further notice.)
• The education route – for young people, so they can gain qualifications as quickly as possible.
• The self-reliance route – for people who are unable to follow the first two routes.

More information about civic integration on government.nl

Tax-free work from home allowance

From 1 January 2022, employers can provide a tax-free work from home allowance of up to €2 per day. This allowance may be combined with the existing tax-free travel-to-work allowance of up to €0.19 per kilometre.

Paid parental leave extended to 9 weeks starting 2 August 2022

At the moment in the Netherlands, parents are entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave per parent in the first 8 years of the child's life. From 2 August 2022, both parents will continue to be partially paid for 9 of these weeks during the child's first year of life. These weeks are in addition to the 16 weeks of maternity leave for the mother and 6 weeks of paternity leave for the partner.

More information about parental leave on government.nl (in Dutch)

Budget for your training and development

From 1 March 2022, workers and job seekers can apply for a STAP budget of a maximum of €1,000 for training and development. People can use this subsidy to follow a training, course, or education in order to remain employable in the labour market. The subsidy is called STAP. This stands for ‘Stimulering Arbeidsmarkt Positie’ stimulation of the labour market position. This budget replaces the tax deduction for training costs.

More information on government.nl