Why does price negotiation matter when assessing freelance status?

Price negotiation can show that a freelancer operates as a service provider making commercial decisions: what to offer, what to charge and which conditions to accept. 

In Deliveroo, the Supreme Court expressly included the way remuneration is determined and paid, and its level, among the relevant classification circumstances. The way the contractual arrangement came into being also matters. 

The assessment therefore concerns more than whether the freelancer clicked “accept”. Who proposed the price? Could the freelancer submit a different offer? Did the parties discuss scope, expenses, responsibility or payment terms? What happened when they disagreed? 

These questions sit alongside authority, organisational integration, personal performance, commercial risk and other circumstances. Price negotiation is part of that assessment, rather than a separate exemption.

Deliveroo: payment per task did not prevent employment. The Supreme Court’s 2023 judgment upheld employment status. The couriers’ remuneration arrangements formed part of the wider assessment. Payment per delivery did not establish entrepreneurship. 

Bouwprofs: setting a rate formed part of evidence supporting independence. In the 20 December 2022 judgment, particularly paragraphs 6.9–6.14, the court considered evidence that the professional set a rate and Bouwprofs discussed it with the client. If the client considered it too high, Bouwprofs returned to the professional. The court found no employment or temporary-agency employment contract with Bouwprofs, also considering other rights, obligations and risks. 

Uber: entrepreneurship has no subordinate position. The Supreme Court’s explanation of its 21 February 2025 judgment confirms that the relevant circumstances have no fixed hierarchy. Entrepreneurship, including circumstances outside the specific relationship, can be decisive in a particular case. 

No general rule requires every freelancer to bargain over every assignment. A freelancer may publish a price that a client accepts immediately. Conversely, a freelancer may accept a client’s genuinely non-negotiable offer after making a commercial assessment. 

Record the process accurately. A proposal accepted without changes is an agreed price; it is not evidence of several rounds of negotiation. Accepting a standard rate should not be presented as setting that rate independently. 

Negotiation can also concern the services included, expenses, payment timing, a price cap, cancellation or responsibility for additional work. These terms help explain the commercial arrangement, provided they have real practical significance. 

Joint negotiations with other freelancers raise a separate competition-law question. ACM guidance identifies situations in which collective arrangements are permitted or enforcement protection applies; these should not be confused with ordinary individual negotiation. 

As of 3 November 2026, the Zelfstandigenwet remains a proposal. It seeks to clarify when work can be performed independently through a self-employment test and a work-relationship test. Negotiating a price alone would not satisfy those combined requirements. 

The hourly-rate presumption is a separate enacted measure. Its commencement is set for 31 December 2026, so it is not yet in force on the date of this item. 

Government guidance uses €38 per hour at the 1 January 2026 reference level, subject to statutory indexation. Once effective, a worker paid at or below the applicable threshold can invoke a rebuttable presumption of employment. The other party must then establish that the relationship is not employment. 

For a workflow using Zooly or another freelance management system, the following information provides a useful basis for recording the commercial process. Check which functions are available in the configured environment. 

Freelancer profile. Record the services the freelancer offers and any indicative prices, rate structure or standard terms. Distinguish a general indication from the offer for a particular assignment. 

Client request for proposals (RFP). Retain the original request, including scope, intended outputs, timing and any budget or maximum rate. Make clear which terms are open to discussion. 

Freelancer proposal. Retain the freelancer’s offer, proposed services, price, assumptions and relevant alternatives. Identify who submitted it and whether an intermediary acted on the freelancer’s authority. 

Discussion and agreement. Preserve relevant messages, revisions, counteroffers and acceptance. Identify the author and date of each material change. Where discussions take place elsewhere, retain the relevant correspondence or an accurate agreed record. 

Service agreement and later changes. Connect the accepted proposal to the final service agreement. Record the price, scope, payment terms and responsibility for additional work. Preserve relevant amendments and their approval. 

This describes the evidence the workflow should preserve. It does not establish that Zooly currently provides every listed function, automatic version control or a complete export facility.