Self-employed; market opportunity or threat to AB Fryslân?

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Self-employed; market opportunity or threat

to AB Fryslân?

Paulina Hilverda

MSc Business Administration Small Business & Entrepreneurship

November 2009

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2 Paula Hilverda Schoener 59 8802 NM Franeker Student number: 1334662 paulahilverda@hotmail.com 06-18231578

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Preface

This Master thesis is written to finish the study Business administration at the University of Groningen, during the study Small Business and Entrepreneurship at the faculty of Economics and Business. After 7½ years my study has come to an end, with ups and downs.

I would like to thank my family and dearest friends, who were always there for me to help me and support me.

Furthermore, I would like to thank AB Fryslân for facilitate my research project and their open discussions about the subject. I would also like to thank Janita Vos, supervisor of the RUG for new insights and ideas about the topic.

Franeker,

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Summary

Being self-employed is becoming more and more popular today. While more people are starting their own business, most of them without personnel, more problems and concerns about self-employment will rise. How should companies, who hire these self-employed people, cope with them, with the risk of subsequent employership and the risk of minimal insurance?

What are the main reasons to become self-employed and what are the main obstacles?

According to the results of my interviews and questionnaires, most of the self-employed choose freedom, flexible working hours, the challenge and higher wages for the main motives to become self-employed. The conclusion is that the respondents in this survey think higher wages is the most important reason to become self-employed.

Self-employed people are very content with their way of living. They do not experience many concerns. Some factors of concern are the amount of work, their pension and calculation of the cost price.

The main question in this thesis is how AB Fryslân should cope with self-employed people. There are a lot of things unclear, for example, tax regulation and future development. How should AB Fryslân protect itself against tax assessments after the self-employed is no longer working for them? The self-self-employed must have a valid identification card, determination of the work on the VAR-report and an agreement of order.

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1 Introduction

This thesis is about self-employed in the changing labor market in the Netherlands. Every year, more new businesses are set up. The Chamber of Commerce predicted 100.000 people would start their own business in 2007. This is already far more then the 90.000 people in 2006. In 2008 the predicted number is 103.000 starters (www.kvk.nl). According to the MKB Servicedesk, in 2010 there will be more then one million self-employed.

Figure 1 Number of starters 1995-2008 (source: numbers Chamber of Commerce) Most of these start-ups are so-called self-employed (zelfstandige zonder personeel in

Dutch, zzp-er). The government stimulates self-employment by special tax regulation as a

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The labor market as a whole is changing dramatically. More and more people are choosing for less strict contracts and are working on project basis. This type of working gives them the opportunity to combine working with taking care for their families and time off. Furthermore, more and more women are working. In 2008, 2,7 million female workers worked part-time compared to 1,3 million male (CBS, 2009). As a result of this study, the need for more flexible working hours is urgent.

As a result, employment agencies for temporary personnel are growing. More and more businesses are looking for the benefits of temporary personnel and more people are looking for the benefits of part-time, project-based work.

In a growing market flexible personnel can be hired easily. On the other hand, this personnel also can be laid off easily. Only if there is more work then the contracted personnel can handle, the temporary personnel is hired. In a tensed labor market, temporary personnel is harder to find, because many people already have a job. If an employment agency has a certain project and could not find personnel, self-employed could solve this problem.

Because there are more people starting their own business, these people cannot work anymore for the employment agency. As we will see later, in this way, the employment agency cannot earn money, because the worker and the contracting company are making the agreement themselves, without the interference of the employment agency. On the other hand, can self-employed be hired for the work they formerly did? This is a complex issue, because there might be subsequent employer, this is the same as a contract, which is not accepted by the Dutch tax collectors office.

This thesis is about such an employment agency, AB Fryslân.1 This employment agency sees more and more workers are getting self-employed and in this way they lose experienced workers. This raises a number of questions. In what way should AB Fryslân cope with the self-employed? Is self-employment a threat or an opportunity? What are

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the reasons for the self-employed to become independent? And how could AB Fryslân provide a solution for the obstacles self-employed experience? Finally, should AB Fryslân provide this solution? That is what is researched in this thesis. The main question for this research is:

“What are the main reasons to become self-employed for workers of AB Fryslân, and in what way can this be a market opportunity for AB Fryslân?”

To answer this main question, the following sub questions have been formulated:

• What are the main reasons for former workers of AB to become self-employed? • What are the main obstacles these self-employed have?

• In what way can AB apply self-employed?

• To which business opportunities for AB Fryslân might this lead?

This study is relevant, because as said before, more and more people are becoming self-employed. According to numbers of the Centraal Plan Bureau (CPB), within two years the number of self-employed will double to two million. According to numbers of the CBS in the Netherlands there are now one million self-employed. That is one out of seven of the working population. In 2006, the growth of self-employed was approximately 9% to 340.000 (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek). If the growth keeps increasing, this will have consequences for the economic system as a whole. Self-employed do not pay any social security and may be aggravating society. But if the self-employed is getting ill or unfit for work, he or she can get social security. Social security will no longer be reasonable priced. Because the movement of becoming a self-employed is continuing, this is a growing problem.

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crisis are now exposing, and specialists are expecting the effects are visible for the years to come. However, scarcity on the labor market is still an issue. Below, we can see the population pyramid of 2005, followed by the prognoses pyramid of 2025, according to numbers of the CBS, 2009:

2005 2025

Figure 2: population pyramid of the Netherlands, 2005-2025, CBS, 2009

The population pyramid of 2005 shows the population in the Netherlands is ageing. In 2040, almost 25% of the population is 65 years or older. At the moment, this is 15%. In 2065, the babyboom-generation has disappeared, and the proportions are normal again. In figure 1, between the lines, the labor force is presented. In 2025, the labor force is substantially smaller then in 2005. All people who are able to work, are necessary for the economy. Self-employed has to be considered as well. How should companies cope with self-employed to keep their business running?

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Chapter 3 contains the research method, including the more detailed relevance and the boundary conditions of the study. In this research method, ways to collect data to be able to answer the research questions will be presented.

Chapter 4 will present the results of the study.

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2 Theoretical framework

As mentioned in the introduction, this thesis will investigate the reasons for people to become self-employed and the concerns they experience. To develop the conceptual model, a literature research will be done first. This literature review is presented in the theoretic framework.

2.1 The self-employed defined

In this theoretical framework, concepts in the context of the self-employed are explained. Typing the word zzp-er into Google collects 131.000 hits. What is a self-employed? The self-employed is often defined in the literature as a freelancer. The word freelancer is most of the time used for artists and journalists, self-employed most of the time for construction businesses and businesslike service companies (Belastingdienst, 2008). For this thesis the term self-employed (zzp-er) will have the same meaning as freelancer, but for the consistency, only the first term will be used. The terms freelancer and self-employed do not consist in terms of the Belastingdienst or UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut

WerknemersVerzekeringen). They only make a difference between entrepreneur or small

business owner and employee (Chamber of Commerce).

In a study done by Vroonhof (2008) of the EIM, the following definition is presented, which will be also used in this research:

A self-employed is working for own account en risk as an independent or director/main shareholder, employs no personnel or business partners and sells mainly his own labor.

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Hessels en Vroonhof (2003) give quite a lot of characteristics of a self-employed:

• Not employing any workers

• Works for one or more principals, one is prevailing • Does work which is normally done under contract • Input of knowledge and skills in own specialism • No engagement, paid by task

• Responsible for own work and salary

To get accepted by the Dutch Tax Collectors Office (2008) as a self-employed, you should meet the following criteria:

• Three or more principals (someone who gives orders) in one year • No authority from the principal

• Presentation as a independent company

• A minimum of 1225 working hours within your company • 50% of workable hours spend in the company

In a report of TNO Arbeid, by Evers (2000), the following main characteristics are discovered of self-employed:

66% of the independents are in a “one-man” business as a legal form. The liability is only for the entrepreneur himself. Other forms are Vennootschap Onder Firma (VOF) (20%) and the partnership (maatschap) (5%).

Most of the entrepreneurs are working from the house they live in (35%) or next to the house they live in (39%). An industry park is less popular (9%)

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personnel or business partners and sells mainly his own labor. In this thesis, only self-employed in the construction and building industry will be looked at.

Now that we have defined the self-employed and know who is defined by this term, we can unravel the reasons for self-employed to become independent.

2.2 Reasons to become self-employed

Why is it so popular to work for own account and risk? Most of the self-employed formerly were in a contracted job. What are the reasons for giving up these securities? Self-employment has advantages, but also disadvantages.

According to the literature, most of the time people start their own business alone.

A study of the Ministry of Social affairs demonstrates 95% of the self-employed started voluntarily, without any external pressure (Vroonhof, 2008). What are the main reasons for becoming self-employed?

In literature, a difference is made by positive feelings to become self-employed (pull) and negative feelings to become self-employed (push). Various authors mentioned these two types (Evers, 2000), (van Wifferen, 2008), (Vroonhof, 2002) and (van Gelderen and Thurik, 1999). First the pull factors will be discussed, and secondly the push factors.

2.2.1 Pull factors

Several studies have been done to this subject and the main reasons for becoming self-employed were freedom of work, space for personal relationships with customers and creativity (Evers, 2000), (van Wifferen, 2008), (van Gelderen and Thurik, 1999).

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More motives are mentioned in these researches: to plan your own time, to earn more money then when working with a contract and to be more flexible in working hours.

In a study done by EIM, the main reason for becoming self-employed is the desire to be independent (26,6%), followed by challenge (14,3%). In a research done by Hessels, van Gelderen en Thurik (2007) pull factors such as autonomy (also referred to as independence and freedom), income and wealth, challenge, and recognition and status are named.

2.2.2 Push factors

The second types of factors for becoming self-employed are push factors. These negative factors also must be considered.

In a Canadian study, Moore and Mueller (2002) found as a result of their research the following push factors to become self-employed:

• Longer spells of unemployment favor self-employment

• Workers who collect unemployment benefits between jobs are less likely to become self-employed than workers who do not

• Workers who left their previous, paid jobs involuntarily - i.e., due to layoffs -were more likely to become self-employed than those who left voluntarily, but less likely than workers who specified personal reasons for leaving

• Self-employment decisions are independent of the health of the labor market as measured by the unemployment rate

In a study done by the EIM, done by Vroonhof et al.(2008), 95% of the self-employed choose to become independent themselves, rather than forced. Only in 5% of the cases, self-employment was forced. There are three types of forced self-employed:

• By former employer (1,2% of the total)

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Hulsink and Manuel (2005) also found push factors: start your own business for a better social position in society, mostly named by foreign inhabitants. Unsuccessful in paid employment and therefore becoming self-employed is the second reason. Last reason named by Hulsink and Manuel is an unstable working environment, like reorganizations and redundancy, are reasons for becoming self-employed. The argument for the better social position could also be a pull factor, but in this thesis, this factor is considered as a push factor, because of the slightly negative character.

The most important pull factors considered in this literature research are flexibility, creativity, freedom and self-development. In this research wages will be added to this list of pull factors, because in orientating conversations, this concept is often named as an important factor.

As to the push factors that will be further researched in this thesis are joblessness, the wish for a better social position, unsuccessfulness and unstable work environment.

2.3 Concerns for the self-employed

As mentioned in section 2.1, self-employment has advantages and disadvantages. What are the concerns self-employed have? These concerns are perceptions of the entrepreneur. What could be an obstacle for someone is not necessarily an obstacle for another. He or she could interpret it as a challenge.

Evers (2000) mentioned these concerns by self-employed:

• Regulation from the government • Development of the economy • Getting enough work for the future

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In a study by EIM about young/starting companies, the main concern was recruiting personnel. For self-employed, this is not an issue here, because most of the self-employed do not have the desire to contract personnel. In this study, the second highest concern, financial administration (9,5%) is the most important and third was payments by debtors (8,1%). By concerns, most of the time family and friends are asked for advice (44%), followed by accountant (39%) and colleagues (31%).

Another study from the EIM, done by Vroonhof (2008), respondents answered that the main concerns were the high insurance costs. Uncertainty about the future and getting enough work are also concern points. Finally, concerns about income by illness and getting unfit for work were named.

Pleijster and van der Valk (2007) add the phenomenon of cheap workers from East Europe and mandatory certificates asked by principals as concerns.

The main concerns that will be further researched here are financial commitment, regulation by government, future, getting enough work en the issue of health (getting unfit for work).

2.4 Summary theoretic framework

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Main concerns in literature and most relevant for the research are financial commitment, regulation, future, enough work and health. These concepts are linked to the decision to become self-employed.

2.5 Conceptual model

In this conceptual model the concepts from the theoretic framework are linked together. The main question from the management of AB Fryslân is first researched by reviewing literature. From this literature review, concepts and relations are discovered. These are presented in the conceptual model (Figure 3).

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3 Research method

In this chapter, the main research activities will be discussed. First, the preparing of the data gathering is discussed. Then, the data gathering and additional data gathering is discussed.

3.1 Preparing data gathering

From the theoretic framework, the concepts must be operationalized. To collect the data needed for this research, a questionnaire is designed. The respondents are workers or former workers of AB Fryslân, starters from the database of the Chamber of Commerce and respondents from earlier research done by AB. For more additional data, construction companies, ZZP Nederland and the Dutch Tax Collectors Office were interviewed. This research is tied to several boundary conditions. This research project has taken place during four months. During these four months, I had access to the databases of AB Fryslân. For more field- information, I visited other offices in Friesland and AB Oost, AB Groningen en AB Noord-Holland. When it became clear that the answers of the interviews are similar, no more questionnaires were sent to self-employed. This is the same for construction companies. Several companies will be asked about their opinion towards self-employed and the future.

Keeping the boundary conditions in mind, the research method is made clear in the next section.

3.2 Data gathering

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employed are that will influence the reasons to become self-employed. After that, the third and fourth research question must be made measurable.

For the three concepts named in the conceptual model, namely push factors, pull factors and concerns, a questionnaire is designed to look what push and pull factors are most important reasons to become self-employed and what concerns are most experienced by self-employed. In this survey, a little introduction is given and the boundary conditions are set. If the respondent does not suffice the requirements of being self-employed, as stated in the theoretical framework, the answers will not taken into this research.

The respondents are taken from databases from all AB Fryslân departments. Only the self-employed in construction and agricultural sector are being involved in this research. Self-employed who left the employment agency and self-employed who are still working for AB were send a survey. Additionally, if the response was too low, more questionnaires were sent to self-employed from a data file, collected from ZZP Nederland and self-employed collected from a database of the Chamber of Commerce. These people are not connected to AB, but can provide valuable information. Besides that, self-employed who were in a database of earlier research by another department of AB were send a survey.

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3.3 Additional data gathering

After sending this questionnaire, not available data has to be collected by interviews and field study. Interviewing former workers of AB Fryslân and AB Noord-Holland, who became self-employed themselves, will do this. Additionally, ZZP Nederland and large construction companies like Friso and Jorritsma Bouw will be interviewed to gain additional data about the market opportunities. Finally, the Dutch Tax Collectors Office is interviewed to get a view about regulations with regard to self-employed.

After finishing the first part of the research, recommendations have to be formulated for the management of AB Fryslân. To research what recommendations should be kept in mind, several data collection methods are used:

• Interviews with managers of AB, responsible for the policy towards self-employed.

• Interview with the Dutch Tax Department.

• Interviews with 5 of the largest construction companies in the north of the Netherlands.

• Interview with an employee of ZZP Nederland

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4 Results

From the 85 sent questionnaires, 14 returned. This is a response of 16,5%. From the 85 sent questionnaires, AB Fryslân knew 29 of these zzp-ers, 23 addresses were collected and organized from a database of ZZP Nederland. 29 addresses were collected from a database of the Chamber of Commerce. Results of these in depth questionnaires are presented in the next sections.

4.1 Reasons for becoming self-employed

The respondents had very diverse reasons for becoming self-employed. For the ranking question, 10 useful answers are processed. In the other 4 returned questionnaires, this section was not filled in. For this result, it is counted as many times the concept is ranked first. Obviously, freedom is ranked first by 70% of the respondents. Other results mentioned in the returned questionnaires are: flexible working hours (10%), creativity (10%), challenge (10%) and wages (10%). This can be seen in the figure below.

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Figure 5: number 2 ranking

In figure 5, the number of second rankings is given. The percentage of respondents who choose to put the several concepts on ranking two. Together with figure 4, these two figures point out the most important reasons for becoming self-employed. The concepts, which are ranked at numbers 1 and 2, are considered most important.

Pressure from the environment is always mentioned the less important reason. Probably there is some pressure from the environment, like friends or colleagues who are self-employed already. It could be possible that there is pressure from the environment, but respondents are hesitating to confirm this. Second last was most of the time the personal relationship with the customer.

4.2 Concerns

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employed are the first group of workers who could leave the building site. This seems a contradiction, but according to the respondents, it is not. Self-employed are a “ jack of all trade”, and are moving their capacity toward the privately owned building sites. Maintenance of houses keeps going, even in times of recession.

In general self-employed are very content with their way of living and do not fear the future. The main concerns they consider are payments by debtors, calculating cost price, the mandatory VAR statement appeal and the smoothening transition of work.

Outcomes of the interview with construction companies were that self-employed were the first to get “fired”. However, self-employed themselves are not very aware of this threat, but additional research by the largest construction companies show these results.

Figure 6: concerns of self-employed

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4.3 Market opportunities

In general, the answers from the questionnaires indicate that self-employed are content with their life. Just 15% of the respondents had trouble finding proper work. Several answers from the survey advocated a pool for labor. From the respondents, exactly 50% of the answers answered “agree” or “strongly agree”. Of the respondents, 40% does not agree and 10% strongly disagrees (Figure 6). Just one respondent answered that he looked for help to find suitable woodwork, and several answers indicated a labor pool might be a good solution.

There are also contracters who do not like to contract self-employed. Results of the interviews with the contact persons of the several interviewed construction companies were roughly the same. Most contact persons were likely to “fire” the self-employed first. Contracted employees (“own” personnel) stayed in the company and the flexible workers, like the self-employed and the working from the employment agencies must leave the construction company. Some of the interviewed companies were hesitant towards self-employed. Many heard reasons were: “no bond with the company”, “impossible to make long term agreements” and more difficulty to reach every self-employed separately instead of one point of mutual interest. Interview with the management team of AB Fryslân indicated they are a kind of hesitant towards self-employed. The fear of “contracting” a self-employed in terms of the Tax Department is always present.

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5 Conclusion and discussion

5.1 Conclusion

The purpose of this thesis was to give recommendations to the management of AB Fryslân how to cope with self-employed. First, the reasons to become self-employed and the concerns self-employed have been researched. Then, the ways AB Fryslân can apply self-employed and what business opportunities are possible. Finally, in chapter 5.2 some recommendations are made for the management of AB Fryslân.

• What are the main reasons to become self-employed?

The most named reasons in the returned questionnaires for becoming self-employed are freedom, flexible working hours, challenge and wages. These results are largely the same as in theory, only in this research freedom and wages are more popular than the other concepts from theory. In general, working for one’s own responsibility is popular and stays in the near future popular too.

• What are the concerns self-employed having?

In the survey the most named concerns are calculating cost price and thinking about the future in terms of getting unfit for work. In general, self-employed are not very concerning about the future developments. They are not worrying the financial crisis and think there will be enough work for them, in business and privately owned sectors.

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• In what ways can AB apply self-employed?

Here, there are two possibilities: apply self-employed of don’t apply self-employed. AB Fryslân could decide to do nothing with the opportunities self-employed offer or to do pick up these opportunities. If AB decides to ignore the self-employed, they decide to take the save road. They only focus on their main task: detach people to temporally jobs. Another approach is to see the opportunity with working with self-employed and step into this challenge. This approach will be further worked out in the last sub question.

• To which business opportunities for AB Fryslân might this lead?

One respondent answered he looked for suitable woodwork. In the financial crisis, my assumption is self-employed are the first ones that are finding work more hardly. So a labor pool is one of the possible actions AB could undertake. Most of the self-employed had help from an accountant or bank with financial issues. There are no signs self-employed are looking for financial help from AB. What could be an opportunity is to give information about insurance, pension and debtor control.

As concluded, the most rational scenario for the future is of shrinking economy. So if self-employment stays as popular as it is now, and more and more people who get fired are pushed to self-employment, it is wise to pick up this opportunity. The best way for doing this is the same option AB Groningen already uses. In this way, the money from the order giver comes to AB; AB pays the self-employed and profits the fees. Risk is kept at a minimum; the self-employed get only paid if the order giver pays AB.

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Bouwservice division of AB. It is possible in times of shrinking economy, not many self-employed will use this kind of support, but when the economy is growing again, and, because of the ageing society, everyone has to work, assistance with keeping the books and insurance questions might be a business opportunity.

When the economic wind will change, and because of the ageing of the labor force, everyone who can work, has to work. Then the possibility is available to welcome the self-employed in the working process of AB. Till then, the investment has to be made, perhaps with low effectiveness.

5.2 Discussion

This research focused on reasons for people to become self-employed. Most named in this research are freedom and wages. But it is possible, if researching another type of employed, other results are found. It is understandable that higher educated self-employed wish for more personal contact with the customer and more creativity.

Secondly, in this result perceived freedom was very important to extremely important. There are self-employed who say freedom is a relative concept. To make a normal salary, most of the self-employed have to work 40 hours a week. So-called freedom is just in the mind of people.

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References

Articels:

1. Amit R, K. Maccrimmon, C. Zietsma & J. Oesch (2000), ‘Does money matter?

Wealth attainment as the motive for initiating growth oriented technology Ventures’,Journal of Business Venturing, 16: 119-143.

2. Bosma, N., Hessels, J., Overweel, M. (2003), Hoe reageren MKB-ondernemers op

veranderingen in de conjunctuur: minirapportage, Zoetermeer:EIM

3. Brandstätter H, (1997), “Becoming an entrepreneur: a question of personality

structure”?,Journal of Economic Psychology, (Volume 18): p 157 – 177

4. Evers, G.E., Eigen baas zijn, Zelfstandig Ondernemers Zonder Personeel, TNO-Arbeid, Hoofddorp 2000.

5. Georgellis, Y, Wall, H.J. (2000).Who are the Self-employed?, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

6. Hessels, J; van Gelderen, M;Thurik, R. (2007) Drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations

at the country level: the role of start-up motivations and social security, Scientific

Analysis of Entrepreneurship and SME’s, Zoetermeer.

7. Hisrich R.(1990), ‘Entrepreneurship/ Intrapreneurship’, American Psychologist, 45: 209-222.

8. Meijer, P.C.A., Vroonhof, P.J.N., (2002), Zzp'ers onder het vergrootglas :

kengetallen, spelers en behoefte aan dienstverlening, Den Haag : Raad voor het

Zelfstandig Ondernemerschap

9. Meijer, P.C.A., (2000), De ZZP'er: de ondernemer van de toekomst?, Den Haag : Raad voor het Zelfstandig Ondernemerschap

10. Meijer, P.C.A., de Waard, C.A.C., Vroonhof, P.J.M.(1999), ZZP-er: ondernemer of

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11. Moore, Carol S.; Mueller, Richard E.. The transition from paid to self-employment in

Canada: the importance of push factors. Applied Economics, 2002, Vol. 34 Issue 6,

p791-801

12. Pleijster, F, van der Valk, W.D.M.(2007),Van onbemind tot onmisbaar; de

economische betekenis van ZZP'ers nu en in de toekomst, EIM i.s.m. Rabobank en

Conga, Zoetermeer, oktober 2007.

13. Perry, C.W.; Rosen, H.S. (2001) The Self-Employed are less likely to have Health

Insurance than Wage Earners. So What? NBER Working paper no.8316

14. Roberts E. B. (1991), Entrepreneurs in High technlogy: Lessons from MIT and

beyond, New York: Oxford University Press.

15. Vroonhof, P, Tissing, H., Swaters, M., Bruins, A., Davelaar, E., (2008), Zelfstandigen

zonder personeel, Zoetermeer: EIM i.s.m. Bureau Bartels B.V.

16. Wennekers, S, Thurik, R, Linking entrepreneurship and economic growth, Small Business Economics 13: 27–55, 1999

17. Wifferen, van I., Steeds meer en steeds geliefder, Banking Review, februari 2008

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32 9. http://www.ondernemerschap.nl/index.cfm/3,1,393/conjunctuurbeeld-vier-kwartalen-2008.pdf (January 30, 2009) 10. http://scripties.ebr.eldoc.ub.rug.nl.proxy_ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/bdk/MSc/Bus.Ad m./SBenentr/2008/rkuipers/Afstudeerscriptie_MSc_BA_definitief.pdf (December 15, 2008) 11. http://www.mkbservicedesk.nl/1971/hoe-ziet-zzp-markt-eruit.htm (December 15, 2008) 12. http://www.zzp-nederland.nl/nieuws/76413-zzpers-hebben-weinig-te-vrezen (January 20, 2009) 13. http://www.fd.nl/csFdArtikelen/4619862/4624115/8188342/10211032/ONDERN-crisis-zzp ( January 15, 2009) Policy documents

18. Letter Ministry of Social Affairs: ZZP-ers en arbeidsongeschiktheid, A.J. de Geus (19 april 2006)

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Appendix 1 Description of the company

History

About 1955, the economy of the Netherlands experienced a period of boom. There was a high labor demand in divers sectors, and because of that, wages and secondary working conditions rocketed. Because of post-war financial issues, the agrarian market could not stand this trend and was forced to set up cooperation to meet a shortage of competent personnel. In 1959, the first cooperation was set up, and through the great interest, many more followed.

Mission

AB Fryslân is offering very flexible labor solutions. If a farmer or company cannot work because of illness, decease or other absence, AB offers a solution. The mission is to built long-term relationships with farmers and companies. This is possible because AB is taking responsibilities from the principal. Responsible and entrepreneurial employees do this. (www.abfryslan.nl).

Vision

The vision AB Fryslân is stating is the following:

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Appendix 2 Questionnaire ZZP-er

ENQUETE ZZP-ER

In deze enquête wordt het fenomeen Zelfstandige Zonder Personeel (ZZP) aan de orde gesteld. Onderwerpen als problemen waarmee ZZP-ers te maken hebben, en motieven om zzp-er te worden komen aan de orde. Is er behoefte aan hulp door derden of zijn ZZP-ers erg zelfstandig?

U kunt aangeven in hoeverre u het met de onderstaande uitspraken over diverse onderwerpen eens dan wel oneens bent door het rondje behorende bij een van de volgende antwoorden zwart te maken:

1.geheel mee oneens 2. mee oneens 3. mee eens 4. geheel mee eens

Algemeen

Bent u ZZP- er? ο ja ο nee

Heeft u hiernaast ook nog ander werk? o ja o nee

Hoe lang bent u ondernemer? …………jaar

In welke sector bent u werkzaam?

ο agrarisch ο bouw ο groenvoorziening o grond-, weg- en waterbouw o metaal o transport o anders, nl ...

Hoeveel uren maakt u per jaar? o 0 - 1224

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Hoeveel opdrachtgevers heeft u gemiddeld per jaar? o 0-2 o 3-10 o 11 en meer

Ik werk altijd met een zgn. VAR- verklaring ο ja ο nee

Ik werk met de volgende soort VAR-verklaring: ο VAR-dga

o VAR-wuo o VAR-salaris o VAR-row

Zo ja, omdat o zekerheid

o verplichting o anders,nl………

Ik vraag mijn VAR-verklaring altijd zelf aan: ο ja

o nee Financiële zaken

1. Ik doe zelf mijn financiële administratie ο ja ο nee

2. Ik doe zelf het debiteuren beheer ο ja ο nee

3. Ik heb bijna geen tijd om zelf mijn administratie te doen ο ja ο nee

4. Hulp bij financiële administratie wordt voldoende

aangeboden door: ο accountant

ο bank

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5. Een nieuwe bron van informatie over financiële zaken zou ο ja ο nee gewenst zijn

6. Ik ben op de hoogte van het bestaan van de

Zelfstandigen Bijstand (BBZ) ο ja ο nee

Verzekeringen

7. De volgende verzekering(-en) heb ik afgesloten ο WA-verzekering o Zorgverzekering o Beroepsaansprakelijkheid o Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheid o Rechtsbijstand o Arbeidsongeschiktheid o anders, nl………”

(geheel mee ( geheel mee oneens) eens)

8. Uitleg door een deskundige over verzekeringen

is gewenst

ο ο ο ο

Werk

9. Ik heb altijd voldoende werk ο ο ο ο

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11. Ik heb veel moeite om geschikt werk te vinden ο ο ο ο

12. Een vraag en aanbod pool zou een goede oplossing zijn ο ο ο ο

13. Ik heb behoefte aan contact met andere ZZP-ers o o o o

14. Ik heb behoefte aan contact met deskundigen o o o o

15. Ik ben bang dat het door fiscale regelingen straks minder

aantrekkelijk is om zelfstandig ondernemer te zijn ο ο ο ο

16. Ik denk dat het door de krimpende economie straks

moeilijker is om werk te vinden ο ο ο ο

Pensioen en toekomst

17. Ik heb al goed nagedacht over mijn pensioen ο ο ο ο

18. Ik reserveer elke maand geld om in de toekomst

een pensioen te hebben ο ο ο ο

19. Ik heb mijn pensioen geregeld bij/met een deskundige ο ja ο nee

20. Ik zou het fijn vinden om eens een gesprek te hebben

over mijn pensioen ο ja ο nee

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40 Andere activiteiten

Heeft u nog andere zaken waarbij hulp door een externe partij handig zou zijn?

Andere activiteiten waarbij hulp gewenst is, zijn:

1. 2. 3.

……….

Motieven

Wat zijn voor u de belangrijkste motieven om zelfstandig ondernemer te zijn:

• --- • --- • --- • --- • ---

Zet de volgende motieven in de voor u goede volgorde van 1 tot en met 7:

--- Druk vanuit uw omgeving --- Beloning

--- Flexibele werktijden

--- Creativiteit meer tot uiting kunnen brengen --- Meer ruimte voor persoonlijke relaties met klanten --- Vrijheid

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Tot zover deze enquête. U heeft mij erg geholpen door deze vragen te beantwoorden. De resultaten zullen anoniem verwerkt worden, maar mag ik voor de volledigheid toch nog uw gegevens: Naam: Adres: Postcode en woonplaats: Telefoonnummer: E-mailadres:

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Appendix 3 Questions for interview Belastingdienst

ENQUETE BELASTINGDIENST

Deze enquête gaat over ZZP-ers en de relatie met de Belastingdienst. Welke factoren spelen hier een rol? Wat ziet de Belastingdienst vaak fout gaan bij ZZP-ers? En hoe ziet de Belastingdienst

de toekomst?

Deze vragen komen aan bod in deze enquête.

Algemeen

1. Kunt u wat vertellen over de VAR-verklaring? 2. Welke dingen gaan er vaak fout bij ZZP-ers?

Wet- en Regelgeving

3. Welke specifieke regelgeving is er nu voor ZZP-ers?

4. Liggen er in de toekomst nog nieuwe regels in het verschiet m.b.t. ZZP-ers? 5. Waar moeten inleners en bemiddelaars om denken bij het werken met ZZP-ers? 6. Hoe vaak komt het voor dat de belastingdienst achteraf vindt dat er sprake is van

een arbeidsrelatie?

Groei ZZP-ers

7. Denkt u dat de trend van toenemende groei van ZZP-ers in de toekomst doorzet? 8. Zo ja, in welke mate?

9. Hoe kijkt de Belastingdienst aan tegen de groei van ZZP-ers?

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Appendix 4 Questions for interview by phone FNV ZBO

1 Kunnen jullie zien of er in deze tijden economische teruggang juist meer of minder zzp-ers gevraagd worden voor klussen?

2 Hebben zzp-ers genoeg werk of zijn er een aantal die in de knel komen?

3 Zijn bouwbedrijven juist geneigd om juist flexibele zzp-ers aan te nemen voor een klus of kiezen ze voor hun eigen personeel?

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Appendix 5 Questionnaire construction companies Friesland

1 Huren jullie wel eens zzp-ers in voor klussen?

2 Hoe kijken jullie tegen de zzp-ers aan?

3 Mochten jullie in de toekomst minder werk krijgen, wie worden dan als eerste ontslagen?

Self-employed; market opportunity or threat to AB Fryslân?