Equal pay rules for posted chefs in the EU — what restaurants must know
2026-10-08 — Stafflab
One of the most common misconceptions about cross-border staffing is that posted workers only need to receive the host country's statutory minimum wage. Since 2020, that is no longer true. The revised Posted Workers Directive requires posted staff to receive the same total remuneration as comparable local workers — which in hospitality usually means sector-specific collective agreement rates. This article explains what that means in practice for restaurants in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
The "equal pay" principle under the 2018 directive
The original 1996 Posted Workers Directive established a minimum floor: posted workers must receive at least the statutory minimum wage of the host country. For years, this allowed a wage differential — a Polish sous-chef posted to Amsterdam might earn just above the Dutch minimum wage, while a locally-hired Dutch sous-chef earned 20–30% more under the hospitality collective agreement (CAO).
Directive 2018/957, fully transposed across the EU by August 2020, replaced this floor with a parity principle. Posted workers must now receive the same remuneration as comparable workers in the host country, determined by the applicable legislation and universally applicable collective agreements. In the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, all three countries have universally applicable hospitality sector agreements — meaning those rates apply to posted workers as a legal requirement, not a courtesy.
The practical impact is significant. Posted workers are no longer a cost-saving mechanism relative to local hires on pay. The competitive advantage of cross-border staffing now lies in access to a larger talent pool and the operational flexibility of short-term contracts — not a wage discount. For restaurants budgeting for cross-border staffing, understanding this is essential. Our complete guide to posted workers provides additional context on how the directive structures the entire employer relationship.
How host-country minimum wages apply to posted workers
Every EU member state sets a statutory national minimum wage (SMW). Posted workers must receive at least the SMW of the host country, regardless of what their home-country employer pays. However — and this is where many operators get confused — the SMW is a floor, not a ceiling and often not the relevant number. In all three Benelux countries, hospitality sector collective agreements set rates substantially above the statutory minimum, and those rates are what the equal pay principle actually requires.
The Dutch statutory minimum wage in 2026 is approximately €13.27 per hour for workers aged 21+. The Dutch hospitality CAO rates for kitchen staff run considerably higher — a commis chef starts at around €14.20 and a sous-chef at around €17.80 under the current CAO. A posted sous-chef in a Dutch restaurant must therefore receive at least €17.80, not €13.27.
Sector-specific pay scales in NL, BE and LU hospitality
Each country's hospitality sector is governed by a collective agreement that sets minimum rates by role and seniority. The table below gives approximate 2026 figures for the most common kitchen brigade roles. These are indicative; always verify against the current version of the applicable CBA.
| Role | Netherlands (CAO Horeca) €/hr | Belgium (PC 302) €/hr | Luxembourg (CCT Horeca) €/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen porter / plongeur | ~€13.50 | ~€13.80 | ~€14.60 |
| Commis chef | ~€14.20 | ~€14.50 | ~€15.40 |
| Chef de partie | ~€16.00 | ~€16.30 | ~€17.20 |
| Sous-chef | ~€17.80 | ~€18.20 | ~€19.50 |
| Head chef / chef de cuisine | ~€22.00 | ~€22.50 | ~€25.00 |
Luxembourg consistently shows the highest rates, reflecting both the country's high cost of living and the extremely tight labour market driven by cross-border commuters from France, Germany, and Belgium. Belgium's PC 302 (Paritair Comité 302) rates are set in a complex negotiation process that distinguishes between categories of establishment and seniority levels. The Dutch CAO Horeca is renegotiated every two to three years and its rates are indexed to inflation.
Seniority matters more in some countries than others. Under the Belgian PC 302, a chef de partie with five years of service in the role earns a meaningfully higher rate than one with two years — the CBA includes seniority bands that increase with years of service at the employer. For posted workers, seniority at the sending employer counts. A chef who has worked for the Polish staffing agency for four years is entitled to be classified in the appropriate seniority band under the Belgian CBA, not treated as a new entrant. Getting role classification and seniority right is a detail that reputable agencies manage as a matter of course; operators should ask their agency to confirm both the role classification and seniority level applied when requesting a pay compliance summary.
Allowances, benefits and bonuses — what must be matched
The equal pay obligation is not limited to base hourly rates. The 2018 directive defines "remuneration" broadly to include all components of pay that are mandatory under the host-country legislation or universally applicable collective agreements. In practice, for Benelux hospitality this means:
- Unsocial hours supplements: Evening, weekend, and public holiday premiums mandated by the applicable CBA must be paid at the same rates as local workers receive. In the Dutch CAO, weekend work carries a 30% supplement; public holidays attract a 100% supplement.
- Vacation pay accrual: The Dutch system requires vacation pay (vakantiebijslag) of 8% of gross salary to accrue. Belgian workers receive a more complex double-holiday pay structure. Both apply to posted workers.
- Meal and travel allowances where mandatory: Some CBAs require employers to provide or financially compensate for meals and travel. Where these are mandatory components of the sectoral agreement, they apply to posted workers too.
What is explicitly excluded from the equal pay calculation is reimbursement of actual posting costs: the accommodation, flights, and transport that a staffing agency pays to relocate a worker to the host country. These are treated as cost reimbursements, not remuneration, and they cannot be used to offset the required CBA rates. A common — and illegal — practice is for agencies to count a worker's accommodation as part of their "total package" and reduce the cash pay accordingly. This violates the directive and exposes both the agency and the receiving restaurant to back-pay liability.
Long-term postings (12–18 months): additional requirements
When a posting exceeds 12 months, the 2018 directive triggers additional obligations. The employer can extend to 18 months by making a formal notification, but beyond 12 months essentially all host-country labour law applies — not just the core conditions (pay, working time, health and safety). This includes rules on termination, non-compete obligations, and additional social protection measures.
For hospitality, most postings are seasonal and well within the 12-month threshold. A chef hired for a summer season (May–September) or a winter season (November–March) sits comfortably below the trigger point. However, operators running year-round operations who have posted the same individual for consecutive seasons should note that the cumulative approach matters: if the same worker is posted for 8 months, returns home for 3 months, and is re-posted for 8 more months, the periods may be aggregated for the purposes of the 12-month rule, depending on how the host country interprets continuity. Stafflab monitors posting lengths and flags approaching thresholds proactively.
Edge case: what if a worker's home-country employer pays less than the CBA rate?
A practical scenario that arises when operators source workers through smaller or newer agencies is a payroll gap: the agency pays the worker their home-country rate in their home currency, posts them to the Netherlands, and charges the restaurant the CBA-compliant day rate — but does not pass the difference to the worker. The restaurant has no visibility into this arrangement because the worker's payslip is issued by the Polish agency in Polish zloty and the restaurant only sees the B2B invoice. From the restaurant's perspective, the invoice rate is above the Dutch CBA floor, so compliance seems intact. In practice, the worker is being underpaid in breach of the equal pay obligation, and the receiving restaurant can be held jointly liable for the shortfall under the WagwEU joint liability provisions.
The way to protect yourself from this scenario is to ask your staffing agency for a written pay compliance statement for each posted worker, confirming the gross hourly rate paid, the CBA classification applied, and the total remuneration package. A reputable agency provides this documentation as a matter of course. An agency that refuses to provide it or provides vague assurances about "full compliance" without specific figures is a signal to treat with caution. The compliance statement should be specific to the host country, the CBA in effect, and the worker's role classification — not a generic declaration. Operators in Belgium should note that the CLS (Contrôle des lois sociales) has increased its focus on pay compliance documentation during inspections since 2024, and the absence of documentation is itself treated as an aggravating factor in any enforcement action.
How Stafflab ensures compliance with pay rules
Stafflab's payroll system is maintained by a team of employment lawyers and HR specialists who monitor each country's applicable CBA continuously. Our rate tables are updated each time a new collective agreement period begins — typically annually or bi-annually for each country. Every worker we post is paid at or above the applicable host-country CBA rate for their role, with all mandatory supplements calculated and paid correctly.
We provide receiving restaurants with a pay compliance summary for each posted worker on request. This documents the CBA rate applied, all supplements, and the basis for role classification. This protects you in the event of an inspection and gives your finance team the information needed for correct reverse-charge VAT treatment — see our article on VAT reverse charge for cross-border staffing for how these invoices are structured. Equal pay compliance is not optional, and we treat it as a non-negotiable baseline, not an added service. Our notification guide explains the parallel administrative requirements.