Seasonal workers are obligated to have insurance

Every person working in the Netherlands is obliged to have a basic health insurance package. This also applies to seasonal workers, whether they already have health insurance in their country of residence or not.
Please note that only the basic health insurance package is obligated, supplementary insurance is optional.

You should thoroughly inform your employees

All involved agencies (including LTO ) strongly discourage foreign employees / seasonal workers to work for you without a health insurance. If you allow this to happen, and your employee(s) needs medical care in the Netherlands, then chances are that he or she will not be able to pay the medical expenses.

Of course, this scenario is first and foremost very bad from a human perspective. However, this also affects you from a business point of view, and may in some cases even cause major legal issues. There have been cases in the Netherlands where the employer was held liable for the medical expenses, because of his negligence to inform employees about the potential risks of working here without health insurance.

Fines for uninsured employees

Being uninsured for the basic health insurance package can mount up to a fine of 130 percent of the premium you normally would have to pay. This fine will be imposed retroactively for the entire period you should have been insured. This penalty can be imposed for a maximum period of five years.
The requirement for having a health insurance commences the moment the employee starts to work with the Dutch employer.

Duty of acceptance also applies to foreign employees

The duty of acceptance that health insurers have is also applicable to foreign employees in the Netherlands. Employers in agriculture and horticulture can conveniently arrange health insurance for their seasonal workers through the LTO . It is possible to get a suitable health insurance specifically designed for foreign workers who only work for a short period of time in the Netherlands through the website of the LTO Seasonal work.
With this customized health insurance, the own deductibles are completely reinsured through a supplementary insurance. With this insurance (basic health insurance package + supplementary health insurance to reinsure own deductibles) the total monthly premium per insured person is lower than it would be with a normal health insurance.

Since the insurance obligation also applies to foreign employees, they also have the right to health care benefits. This can also be easily arranged using the digital counter of LTO Seasonal work.

Tip
LTO Seasonal work has brochures on health insurance in several languages. This way you can give your foreign employee information about health insurance in the Netherlands in their native language.