This comparative study examines how Dutch and Hungarian legal frameworks address the classification question in labour law: determining whether a labour relationship constitutes an employment contract or self-employment. While both countries face similar pressures from technological disruption and changing work patterns, their institutional responses diverge significantly. The comparison is particularly instructive for three reasons. First, both jurisdictions employ a binary classification model yet have developed structurally different assessment methodologies: the Netherlands uses a two-stage approach (construal followed by classification) with a holistic test, while Hungary applies a hierarchical distinction between primary and secondary classification criteria. Second, despite these different frameworks, both systems produce inconsistent judicial outcomes. Dutch courts appear to assign relatively greater weight to certain factors within the Supreme Court’s nine-perspective test, while Hungarian courts at different levels reach diametrically opposed conclusions on identical facts. Third, and most strikingly, the political branches have responded to these shared challenges in opposite ways: the Netherlands has pursued active legislative reform through the proposed Verduidelijking beoordeling arbeidsrelaties en rechtsvermoeden (VBAR) Act, while Hungary has not introduced new classification legislation since a failed proposal in 2011. The analysis reveals that structured classification frameworks – whether hierarchical or holistic – do not automatically produce legal certainty, and that incremental reform within existing frameworks proves more viable than systemic restructuring. The study concludes that effective reform must address not only formal classification criteria, but also how those criteria function in judicial practice, and must account for the systemic functions of employment contracts in maintaining collective solidarity and fair competition.
International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations