When you arrive in the Netherlands and find work, the goal is usually one: for your salary to be enough. You sign the contract, accept the conditions, and that’s that. What many people don’t know is that here, salary is just one part of what’s negotiable. There’s a second level —the secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden (secondary employment conditions)— which can be worth hundreds of euros a month and which almost no Latin American negotiates, simply because they don’t know it exists.

What are secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden?

It’s everything you receive from your employer in addition to your gross salary. In Latin America, we call them “prestaciones” or “beneficios” (benefits), but in the Netherlands, the concept is much more developed and is a normal part of any negotiation, even for mid-level positions. Some are mandatory by law or collective agreement; others depend on the employer and are entirely negotiable. The key is knowing which are which.

First: check your CAO

Before negotiating anything, check if your sector has a CAO (collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst, collective labour agreement). It’s an agreement between unions and employers that sets minimum conditions for an entire industry: sector salary, holidays, pension rules. If your company falls under a CAO, some benefits are not optional: they must provide them to you. You can look it up on rijksoverheid.nl or ask HR for it. Many people have lived in the Netherlands for years without having read their CAO, and this document significantly changes what you are entitled to receive.

The Most Important Benefits

Travel expense reimbursement (reiskostenvergoeding). One of the most common and least used. If you travel to work by public transport, bike, or car, your employer can reimburse your expenses. The maximum they can pay you tax-free is €0.23 per kilometre in 2026 (or the actual cost of a public transport pass). Some companies pay more per km, but anything above €0.23 is taxed. Often, the policy exists, but you have to ask for it yourself.

Work-from-home allowance (thuiswerkvergoeding). With hybrid working being so common, there’s an official allowance for days you work from home: in 2026, the maximum exempt amount is €2.45 per day. It’s not a fortune —if you work 3 days from home, that’s about €32 per month tax-free— but it’s money many people don’t even ask for.

Pension (pensioen). Here, your pension isn’t just the state pension (AOW): most employers contribute to an occupational pension scheme. What’s important is how much your employer contributes compared to what you contribute — some put in double, others the minimum. If you compare two offers with similar salaries, the pension difference can be decisive in the long term. Understand how it fits into the Dutch pension system.

Bicycle plan (fietsplan). Very Dutch and very cost-effective: many companies let you buy a bicycle (even an electric one) by deducting its cost from your gross salary, before taxes. By doing it from your gross salary, you pay less tax and the bike ends up being much cheaper. If you cycle to work, this is one of the best benefits.

Training budget (opleidingsbudget). Many companies allocate an annual budget for courses, certifications, language lessons, or conferences — from €500 to several thousand per year. If you want to improve your Dutch or get a certification, ask if there’s a budget before paying for it out of your own pocket.

Extra holiday days. The legal minimum is 20 days per year (full-time), but many companies offer 25 or more. If the company doesn’t mention them, they can be negotiated — sometimes it’s easier to get extra days than a pay rise. We explain how they work (and when they expire) in holiday days in the Netherlands.

Company car (leaseauto). For roles with a lot of travel or certain seniority, this can be negotiated. Be aware: private use is taxed as a benefit in kind (bijtelling), so the real benefit depends on the car model and how much you use it privately. Calculate it before accepting it as if it were just an advantage.

Disability insurance (arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering). If you cannot work for a long time due to illness or accident, the basic legal protection may not be enough to maintain your standard of living. Some employers supplement the state insurance with an additional policy. Few people ask about it, and it can make a difference during a difficult period.

How to Negotiate the Dutch Way: 3 Steps

Something you quickly learn here: the work culture is direct. Asking for what you want is not seen as audacity, but as professionalism. Not negotiating, on the other hand, can be interpreted as a lack of good judgment. So, if you’ve never asked for anything, now is the time.

• 1. Research beforehand: what your CAO says, what similar companies offer (LinkedIn, Glassdoor), and which benefits in your current contract you might not be using.
• 2. Make your priority list: don’t ask for everything at once. Choose the 3-5 benefits that would make the biggest difference to your life. With children, perhaps the kinderopvangtoeslag and days for a sick child; if you cycle, the fietsplan; if you want to grow professionally, the opleidingsbudget.
• 3. Ask directly in the next conversation: during a performance review (functioneringsgesprek), when negotiating an offer, or when something is proposed to you and there’s room for manoeuvre. If the salary isn’t negotiable, that’s precisely the moment to steer the conversation towards secondary benefits.

A direct and natural way to say it: “Het salaris begrijp ik, maar ik zou graag kijken of we iets kunnen doen met het opleidingsbudget en de thuiswerkvergoeding.” (“I understand about the salary, but I’d like to see if we can do something about the training budget and the work-from-home allowance.”)

And always get it in writing. Any benefit you agree to verbally should be documented: in an addendum to your contract, an email, or the HR system. Here, it’s standard practice, and asking for it doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable. If it’s only “spoken” and your manager changes, the agreement might disappear.

How Much Can All This Be Worth?

To give you an idea in numbers. Imagine a gross salary of €3,000 per month. If you also receive:

• Reiskostenvergoeding: €80/month
• Thuiswerkvergoeding (3 days/week): ~€32/month
• Employer’s pension contribution: €300/month
• Opleidingsbudget: €1,500/year (€125/month)

That’s over €530 per month in additional value on top of your base salary, a good portion of it tax-free. The equivalent of a pay rise of almost 18% without your company moving a single euro from your gross pay.

Do you know what benefits you currently have in your contract and which ones you might be missing out on? Leave a comment and we’ll take a look.