Fair payment for self-employed in culture impossible without solid research on billable hours

It is unfortunate that there are different views on the hours that cultural freelancers can work. Research into billable hours should be standard within the sectors for which a Fair Pay rate is determined. Now a small group of people decide whether such research takes place or not. That is beneficial for clients who are mainly trying to keep rates low, but it is not fair to freelancers at all.

It's a hot topic in the cultural sector, and in my part of it, the audiovisual sector, too, Fair Pay has been around for years. The stakes are clear: fair pay for creative and performing freelance professionals. A step in this direction seemed to be the consultations at the AV/Film Chain Table. I am not happy with the result achieved there. No professional can live off the Fair Pay rate that emerged from that.

Chain Tables are part of Platform ACCT (Labour Market Cultural and Creative Future) and are subsidised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). At various Chain Tables from the creative sector, stakeholders make agreements on working conditions and Fair Pay rates for freelancers.

The result of those discussions at the AV/Film Chain Table - a recommended starting rate of €27 per hour for zzp'ers - is remarkably low. Almost half of the starting rates are also below €31.50 per hour. This raises questions. For whom is this rate "Fair Pay"? How realistic is it really, considering the working practices of a freelancer?

A starting rate of €27 per hour: far too little for a healthy professional practice

According to the guidelines of the Ketentafel AV/Film, freelancers should be paid a minimum of €27 per hour. This amount does not take into account the reality of freelancing, in which billable hours are often lower than freelancers would like. A freelancer might well want to work and bill 34 or 38 hours a week, but in many creative sectors this is not very realistic. The supply of services within those sectors is often greater than the demand for those people. Knab has also research done to. In the tariff booklet are also billable hours: 24 hours a week for a Videomaker.

Interestingly, about half are happy with the average hourly rate of €66. I understand that a videographer is not quite the same job as someone working within the AV/Film world. But it does give a good direction for calculating hours and rates.

How can you compare a CLA job with a freelance job? If a particular job no longer exists on average as a salaried job, in my opinion, you shouldn't make the comparison either. If a job does still exist as salaried, then you can only make the comparison if you really look very closely at the freelancer and the market they are in.

Where things went wrong in the Chain Table AV/Film calculation

No independent research was conducted on the average billable hours in the industry when the rates were established. This is striking because it is an essential factor in setting fair rates. Without insight into how many hours a freelancer can actually charge on an annual basis, any hourly rate remains a punch in the dark. Consultancy firm Berenschot, which was involved in the AV/Film Chain Table, has assumed 25% of non billable time. That figure is not based on recent surveys of AV/Film freelancers. Those are surely based on outdated and sector-altering data.

Want to see how many hours an average full-time freelancer works in a particular industry? Then include a freelancer's gross annual turnover in the calculation. Divide that annual turnover by that person's average hourly rate. Then you will know how many hours that person has been able to calculate. You might end up with different figures than when you ask for someone's billable hours. A freelancer does not always have insight into this.

Berenschot: researchers no longer work for us

I asked Berenschot why they did not look at realistic hours in the sector. The arts & culture sector leader at Berenschot could not help me: "All the researchers from the Chain Table Film no longer work at Berenschot. So I cannot forward your question and have it answered substantively! I cannot question or revise a study conducted by other Berenschot consultants without delving into it thoroughly myself. So I cannot help you further with your plea."

Backlog in Fair Pay just within the AV/film sector

The backlog in Fair Pay precisely within the AV/film sector is particularly distressing, according to a recent report commissioned by Kunsten '92. PPMC Economic Advice B.V concluded that the backlog in realising fair rates in the AV/film sector is the largest of all creative industries. A substantial catch-up is therefore needed to tackle underpayment and unpaid overtime. This highlights how urgent it is not just to set rates, but to actually do justice to the practice of freelance work in this sector.

Is 1,500 euros a month Fair Pay?

For now, the Chain Table in the AV/Film sector for freelancers assumes Fair Pay rates starting at 27 euros an hour. That's not Fair Pay if you assume billable hours. Do the math: suppose 24 hours a week is realistic and you can work for 45 weeks a year. Then the turnover calculation looks something like this:

24 hours x €27 x 45 weeks = gross €29,160 per year

If you subtract 40% taxes and operating expenses from that, you arrive at a monthly income of less than 1,500 euros. That's about 65% of the minimum wage. Think 40% tax and business expenses is too much? Even if you calculate with 30% tax and business expenses, you arrive at a monthly amount of € 1700. The minimum wage in the Netherlands based on full-time 38 hours a week is about € 2300,-.

A fair rate for freelancers is not calculated based on 'what feels reasonable' or 'what the industry can handle', but on economic reality.

And this is lacking if you don't look closely at the market and the hours freelancers can put in there. This is all the more problematic in an industry that relies heavily on freelancers, and where underpayment has been structural for years. With the rates as they are now, you will not solve the underpayment.

Similar example at another Chain Table

I am not directly involved in the AV/Film Chain Table. I was, however, involved in the Photography Chain Table. There, too, they initially wanted to assume non-realistic hours: 30 billable hours per week. I then insisted on a study into billability among photographers within the creative industry. And what did that study show: not 30 hours per week, but 15 hours per week is realistic. Within the Photography Chain Table, based on a desired modal income, an amount of €102 per hour has now been set as Fair Pay. And that amount may be charged for preparation, time on location and post-processing.

Flexicurity research

Along with, among others, the chairman of the AV/Film Chain Table, I was at the table of an investigation into flexicurity, conducted by research firm SEO, commissioned by Platform ACCT. See the results of the survey here "Seeking balance between flexibility and (income) security.pdf".

That research shows that freelancers have quite a few hours that they cannot calculate. Also, freelancers in the creative sector have quite a lot of "cut loss". After all, there can be quite a lot of time between one job and another. Unfortunately, nothing from this research was taken on board at the AV/Film Chain Table.

Legal presumption of salaried employment when paid below minimum hourly rate.

Self-employed and salaried workers often do the same type of work and operate in the same labour market. By tackling false self-employment, the government wants to prevent unfair employment relationships. If it VBAR bill is adopted, it will replace the DBA Act from 1 January 2026. The VBAR provides a new assessment framework to clarify the difference between employees and self-employed workers and aims to reduce false self-employment. A low rate plays a role in this: if self-employed workers earn too little, it undermines the minimum wage required for employees.
Suppose you are self-employed and you work for a client at an hourly rate under 37 euros (this was 33 euros). When the law takes effect on 1 January 2026, it will probably be 38 euros per hour. More on that in this article.

In that case, the government says: You are probably not self-employed at all, but actually just an employee. This is called the legal presumption of employment. Then it is up to the client to prove that you really are a self-employed person and not a false self-employed person.

Protection for underpayment?

It is unfortunate that at a Chain Table, there can be different views on the hours freelancers can work. Actually, a survey of billable hours should be standard within the sectors for which a Fair Pay rate is set. It now appears that the composition of a Chain Table can influence whether or not a survey of realistic hours is instituted within a sector. This is beneficial for a sector that is mainly trying to keep rates low, but it is not fair to freelancers at all.

Other ideas to help the creative market become fair?

Right now, there is a lot going on about legislation for the self-employed. We can look at Belgium, for example, where they have things arranged very differently have. What they have clearly got right there is the protection of the freelancer. Informal or unpaid work is not legally allowed without an employment contract or VAT number. So working for a company as a free photographer, musician or artist is not possible in Belgium.

Besides, it would also be nice if there is a proper way of enforcing Fair Pay rates within the creative sector. Bis institutions have to adhere to Fair Pay, but it costs a lot of extra money and will also result in less work for freelancers. And what are the consequences for a bis institution that does not adhere to Fair Pay rates?

Time for real Fair Pay, based on facts

The intention behind Fair Pay is good, but the implementation may fail if rates are not based on the actual practice of freelancers.

A starting rate of €27 an hour, without thorough research into billable hours within a specific sector, is not Fair Pay. Clients have to prove at this kind of low rate that the self-employed person is not a sham self-employed person. It saddles self-employed people with an annual net income below the minimum wage. This is not sustainable, not fair and certainly not future-proof.

The creative sector has a right to a fee system that is based on the reality of freelance work: with varying assignments, unpaid time, cutting losses between jobs and little economic security. That reality should be the starting point.

As long as we do not set a standard for realistic calculations in the Netherlands, Fair Pay can apparently be unfair. If we want a sustainable creative sector, it is time for serious steps: independent research into billable hours, clear enforcement and real involvement of freelancers in making policy that affects them directly.