Every successful woman fears one thing: “Will pregnancy hurt my career?” In Amelia’s case, a company based in Noordwijk made her feel justified in her fear.
A “lovepat,” she moved from Italy to the Netherlands about five years ago to be with the love of her life and the father of her two boys.
Amelia holds two master’s degrees in European Law and sits just above B2 with her Dutch. Despite approaching the job market through a recruitment agency, things didn’t go so well.
What’s a rite of passage for all internationals in the Netherlands? Complaining. In “Expat experiences,” we reach out to our readers and compile the dirty details of their Dutch horror stories.
A promising start
At the beginning of 2024, she found herself as the assistant contract officer at a prominent company.
It was a yearly contract, and given the will of the job gods, it had the possibility of a renewal. (In this economy, getting offered a sturdy contract from the get-go is like a great comet passing the earth every decade.)
Luckily, Amelia’s contract was renewed again until January 2026.
However, sometime in the beginning of 2025, she informed both her manager and the recruitment agency that she was expecting a baby. “Gefeliciteerd,” they said.
What they didn’t mention: Your job is now in danger.
The rules are clear. Women get three months of (paid) maternity leave after giving birth and nine weeks of (70% paid) parental leave. What kind of contract you have does not matter.
After doing the pregnancy math, Amelia was supposed to return to the workforce in November 2025. She had been on leave since June 2025.
No new contract for you, Mama
A month before the date of rejoining, now with two little boys and a lot of big bills in the house, Amelia reached out to her employer to touch base about her contract.
The manager set up a call for the same day. “We will not be renewing your contract,” they said.
And just like that, with a month’s notice, she was unemployed.
Amelia tells us, “This is obviously a pregnancy discrimination case, but how can I prove that?”
When it comes to companies, indeed, finding solid evidence for discrimination is next to impossible.
What do they claim was the reason?
Dutch courts are decisive: refusing to renew a temporary contract because an employee is pregnant is discrimination. When taken to court, it makes the employee eligible for billijke vergoeding (fair compensation).
However, to dodge blame for outright misogyny, companies can easily cite performance issues as a justification.
@euro_anna Women with children earn less, men with children earn more 🫠 This “motherhood penalty” is one of the key reasons Europe’s gender pay gap still persists. While the Netherlands moves to cut parental leave benefits, I worked with cross-party European colleagues on a report full of concrete recommendations to close the pay gap. Thankfully, it got adopted today with a large majority. Ps. Big thanks to Sophie van Gool who writes about momfluencers, gender equality and who inspires me ⭐
♬ original sound – euro_anna
Amelia’s employer claimed she “didn’t make enough improvements” — that’s why her contract wasn’t renewed.
However, the stats paint a worrying picture that suggests Amelia’s concerns could be valid.
According to the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, a whopping 43% of women in the Netherlands have experienced discrimination due to pregnancy or childbirth that has set back their careers.
Here’s the shocking part: 49% of women on temporary contracts lost their jobs when those contracts expired during or right after pregnancy.
For now, Amelia is back to the job hunt.
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It would be amazing to understand what you can do about it considering it’s such a high % of women