The 28 days recognized sponsors forget
The application is approved, the employee has started and the file gets put away. At that point, most employers think they're done. That's exactly where things go wrong. Once you're a recognized sponsor (erkend referent) with the IND, the Dutch immigration service, your obligations continue for as long as you employ highly skilled migrants.
Three obligations that keep applying
As a recognized sponsor, you have three obligations that don't stop once the permit is granted:
- The duty to inform: you report changes that affect your employee's right to stay.
- The duty of care: you recruit and select carefully, and you tell your employee about the conditions of their stay.
- The duty to keep records: you keep the data and documents in your file, also after someone has left.
The duty to inform is the one that goes wrong most often. And it comes with a deadline.
28 calendar days
When a change happens that you need to report, you have 28 calendar days to tell the IND. The clock starts when the change happens, not when someone remembers it. Changes you need to report include:
- The employment ends, for whatever reason.
- The employee returns to their home country.
- The salary changes, including a pay rise.
- The employee moves to a different role.
- The employee moves to a new address.
- Your company changes its legal form, name or owner.
Twenty-eight days sounds like plenty. It isn't. An employee resigns, HR handles the contract, the final pay stub goes out, and nobody thinks of the IND. Six weeks later, the deadline has passed.
What a missed report costs
For a first breach, the IND usually issues a warning. It stays on your record for about two years. If you make the same mistake again in that period, you can get an administrative fine.
The standard fine is €3,000 per breach, per employee, for a company. For a sole proprietor, it's €1,500. And there's no cap on the total. If you missed the same report for five employees, you pay five times.
There's also a heavier sanction. The IND can suspend or withdraw your recognition. That affects your employees too, because their residence permits depend on it.
How the IND checks
The IND can check at any time whether you follow the rules. It does this in several ways:
- It asks you for information.
- It visits your premises to inspect your records.
- It collects information from other bodies, such as the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority), the Netherlands Labour Authority or the KVK (the Chamber of Commerce).
- It follows up on tip-offs, for example from an employee who contacts the IND directly.
People often forget that last one. An employee who leaves on bad terms can easily trigger an inspection. A file that's in order is your best protection.
How to prevent it
- Make one person responsible for reporting. One named person, so it never falls between departments.
- Build reporting into a process you already have. Every departure and every salary change goes through that person.
- Keep a record of what you reported and when. You'll want to show this during an inspection.
- Check once a year that the file still matches reality. Roles grow, and so do salaries. Files often don't.
Want to be sure your reporting is in order? Get in touch and we'll check it with you.
