Employment Law Basics by European Country | Ultimate Guide For Startups

TL;DR: Employment Law Basics by European Country for startup hiring

Table of Contents

Employment Law Basics by European Country means you cannot hire across Europe with one contract, one contractor model, or one firing process and expect it to work. If you hire in Europe, you need to check each country’s rules on worker classification, working hours, paid leave, payroll, social security, and dismissal before problems cost you cash.

• What matters most to you: Europe has shared worker protections, but each country handles probation, sick pay, notice, severance, collective agreements, and contractor tests differently. A setup that looks normal in the UK may fail in Germany, France, Spain, or the Netherlands.

• Where founders get burned: the biggest risks are fake contractor setups, bad local contract templates, ignored time-tracking rules, and rushed terminations. If the facts look like employment, regulators may treat the person as an employee even if your contract says “freelancer.” You can compare broader EU worker rights and monitor European labor law updates when country rules shift.

• What to do next: map every worker by country, review contracts country by country, confirm payroll and social contributions, train managers on leave and dismissal rules, and audit contractor relationships every quarter.

If you plan to hire across Europe, use this as your warning sign: get local review before your next offer, contractor deal, or termination.

Check out startup news that you might like:

Point Nine Capital News | June, 2026 (STARTUP EDITION)

When your startup finally hires across Europe and learns employment law is not one size fits all… suddenly the intern is your Head of Compliance. Unsplash

Employment Law Basics by European Country matter from day one because the moment you hire across Europe, your startup stops being “just a product company” and becomes an employer under multiple legal systems. For founders, freelancers growing into agencies, and business owners hiring their first team, this means contracts, working time, leave, termination rules, payroll, social security, and employee rights can change sharply from one border to the next.

What is employment law in this context? It is the set of national rules that governs the relationship between employer and worker, including hiring, pay, hours, leave, discrimination, dismissal, collective rights, and workplace safety. For startups, it works like hidden infrastructure. If you ignore it, it will still shape your hiring costs, speed, and legal exposure.

Why this topic matters for startups: one sloppy contract, one fake contractor arrangement, or one badly handled dismissal can burn more cash than a small founder team expects. As Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as Mean CEO, often argues in her work, founders do not need more inspiration, they need infrastructure. Employment law is exactly that kind of infrastructure. It is not glamorous, and it can decide whether your startup scales cleanly or bleeds cash in silence.

Key takeaway

How employment law changes across major European countries
Which rules founders usually underestimate when hiring in Europe
How to set up contracts, working practices, and termination processes with less risk
Which country-level differences matter most at seed, Series A, and later stages

Why do startups need country-by-country employment law awareness now?

The challenge is simple. Founders see Europe as one market for customers, then discover it is not one market for employment. The European Union sets some shared worker protections, but labor law still sits heavily at national level. The result is messy. A contract that feels normal in one country can look weak, invalid, or risky in another.

Research from the European Commission on working conditions, worker mobility, and transparent employment terms has pushed more structure into EU labor standards, yet member states still keep wide local differences. The practical effect for startups in 2026 is sharp: you can sell across borders fast, but you cannot hire across borders casually.

Here is why:

Limited cash means one labor dispute hurts more than it hurts a bigger company.
Fast hiring increases the odds of using recycled templates that do not match local law.
Remote teams blur where work is actually performed, which changes which law applies.
Founder optimism often treats termination as a future problem, while many European systems regulate dismissal from day one.

If you are still setting up your cross-border company structure, pair this article with a startup legal checklist by country so your employment setup matches your entity, tax, and IP choices.

What stays similar across Europe, and what changes by country?

Let’s make one thing clear. Europe is not legal chaos. There are shared themes across many countries, especially around anti-discrimination, paid leave, health and safety, notice periods, and written information about employment terms. Yet the way those themes are enforced, documented, priced, and litigated differs a lot.

What often stays similar across Europe

Written employment terms are expected early
Paid annual leave is a legal right
Working time is regulated
Discrimination and harassment rules apply
Employers must deal with payroll tax and social contributions correctly
Dismissal is usually more regulated than in the US

What often changes by country

Probation period rules
Collective bargaining agreement coverage
Sick pay duties
Notice periods
Severance expectations
Works council or employee representation rules
Limits on fixed-term contracts
How easy it is to classify someone as an independent contractor

This is where founders get trapped. They think the “offer letter” is the hard part. It is not. The hard part is understanding the legal system wrapped around the offer letter.

What are the core employment law concepts every founder should understand first?

Employee vs independent contractor

Definition: An employee works under the employer’s control and sits inside the employer’s organization. An independent contractor runs their own business and has more control over how work is done.

Why it matters for startups: getting this wrong can trigger back pay, social contributions, fines, tax exposure, and claims for paid leave or dismissal protection. Founders love “contractor-first” hiring because it feels cheap and flexible. Regulators love reclassification when the facts say otherwise.

Real-world startup example: a bootstrapped SaaS founder hires a “freelance customer success manager” in Spain, sets working hours, gives one manager, one inbox, one Slack identity, and blocks outside clients. That person may look like an employee in practice, no matter what the PDF says.

Related terms: worker classification, disguised employment, dependent contractor, payroll tax, social insurance.

Working time and paid leave

Definition: working time rules set limits on hours, rest breaks, overtime treatment, and sometimes night work. Paid leave rules cover annual vacation, public holidays in some systems, sick leave, and family leave.

Why it matters for startups: many founders build “always on” cultures without checking whether local law lets them. In Europe, your internal hustle myth does not erase legal rest requirements.

Real-world startup example: a German startup with a product launch crunch asks its team to work long weeks for a month. If hours are not tracked properly, rest periods are ignored, and overtime handling breaks local rules, the legal issue is not solved by pizza and team spirit.

Related terms: Working Time Directive, overtime, rest periods, annual leave, sick pay.

Termination and dismissal protection

Definition: termination rules govern how employment ends, including notice, grounds for dismissal, documentation, consultation, severance, and final pay.

Why it matters for startups: founders often think hiring is reversible. In much of Europe, firing badly is more expensive than hiring badly. And yes, both can happen in the same quarter.

Real-world startup example: a French startup loses a client and wants to cut one role fast. The founder sends a short email saying the company cannot afford the employee anymore. That can be a procedural disaster if the legal basis, consultation steps, and formal dismissal process are missing.

Related terms: unfair dismissal, redundancy, notice period, severance, disciplinary process.

Employment law basics by European country: what should founders know first?

Next steps. Let’s break down the countries founders ask about most often. This is a startup guide, not a substitute for local legal advice. The point is to help you spot the real friction before it becomes expensive.

United Kingdom

The UK is no longer in the EU, but it remains central for European hiring. UK employment law is often seen as more flexible than parts of continental Europe, yet founders still get burned by written statement duties, unfair dismissal risk after qualifying service, discrimination law, holiday pay rules, minimum wage, and working time issues.

Hiring: written particulars must be given from day one
Working time: 48-hour weekly limit exists unless valid opt-out applies
Leave: statutory paid holiday is generous by global startup standards
Termination: easier than France or Germany in many cases, but still regulated
Founder trap: assuming “at-will style” firing exists. It does not.

Useful reference point: the UK framework is heavily shaped by the Employment Rights Act 1996 and related regulations on working time, discrimination, and wages.

Germany

Germany can be a strong hiring base for technical talent, and it can also shock first-time founders. Documentation, social insurance, working time, employee participation, and dismissal protection can all become serious issues. Works council rules matter once your company grows, and German courts often care about process.

Hiring: written terms matter, and verbal chaos is a bad plan
Working time: tightly regulated, with attention to rest periods
Leave: statutory paid vacation rights are real and enforced
Termination: can be hard to execute cleanly once protections apply
Founder trap: using broad “startup flexibility” language where legal precision is expected

Germany also places weight on employee representation through structures linked to the Works Constitution Act. If your startup grows, ignoring this area is reckless.

France

France is famous for labor formality, and some of that reputation is earned. The French Labour Code governs contracts, working time, paid leave, dismissal procedure, and employee representation in a detailed way. Founders who think admin can be “fixed later” usually hate their first French employment issue.

Hiring: contract type matters a lot, especially fixed-term vs permanent
Working time: the 35-hour framework shapes pay and overtime thinking
Leave: employee leave rights are serious and structured
Termination: procedure matters almost as much as reason
Founder trap: trying to improvise dismissal or overusing fixed-term contracts

If you hire in France, budget for process. Cheap shortcuts often become expensive corrections.

Italy

Italy combines statutory rules with the heavy practical weight of collective agreements. Many foreign founders underestimate how much sector-level agreements influence pay floors, working conditions, notice, and classification.

Hiring: contract form and applicable collective agreement matter
Working time: regulated, with local contract influence
Leave: paid leave and sick leave rules need careful setup
Termination: not a casual employer right
Founder trap: ignoring national collective labor agreements

The Italian Workers’ Statute still shapes how many founders and lawyers think about worker protections and representation.

Spain

Spain is attractive for remote talent and startup teams, but founders should pay close attention to employment status, fixed-term contract limits, working hours, leave rights, and dismissal cost. Spain has gone through labor reforms, and old assumptions can age badly.

Hiring: contract justification matters, especially for temporary roles
Working time: time recording can matter more than founders expect
Leave: strong statutory protection
Termination: cost and legal grounds matter a lot
Founder trap: treating recurring work as short-term temporary work

Spain is one of the countries where “we will just use freelancers” can turn into a deeply stupid sentence very fast.

Netherlands

The Netherlands is startup-friendly in many ways, yet employment law still protects workers through notice rules, sick pay duties, working conditions, fixed-term chain rules, and dismissal procedure. Dutch founders and foreign founders alike often underestimate how expensive long-term sickness can be for employers.

Hiring: probation rules and fixed-term sequencing matter
Working time: flexible work culture does not erase legal duties
Leave: statutory vacation and leave rights are structured
Termination: route may depend on reason and process
Founder trap: failing to price employer sick pay exposure

As someone who built companies in the Netherlands, Violetta’s founder-style view fits here well: compliance should be invisible inside the workflow. In Dutch hiring, that means your contract, payroll, HR recordkeeping, and manager habits should work together before the first conflict appears.

Belgium

Belgium can be harder than it looks. Language, region, social security, notice rules, and collective frameworks all matter. A founder can have a neat product and a messy Belgian employment file at the same time.

Hiring: language and formal drafting matter
Working time: structured and not casual
Leave: governed by statutory and social system rules
Termination: notice and cost can be painful
Founder trap: copying a French or Dutch template and assuming it works

Portugal

Portugal is popular with remote-first startups, and founder enthusiasm often outruns legal preparation. Portuguese labor law covers contract form, working hours, holiday pay, meal allowances in some setups, and dismissal rules with more employee protection than many foreign employers expect.

Hiring: contract details matter and should match the real role
Working time: overtime and schedule control need care
Leave: statutory leave rights are clear and should be tracked
Termination: legal grounds and process matter
Founder trap: assuming low-cost country means low-regulation country

Sweden

Sweden often feels founder-friendly, especially in tech, but labor relations are shaped by both statute and collective bargaining. Swedish culture may feel informal, yet the legal and union context still needs respect.

Hiring: written clarity and policy consistency matter
Working time: regulated, with collective agreement influence
Leave: strong leave culture and employee expectations
Termination: not something to improvise
Founder trap: mistaking cultural informality for legal looseness

Poland

Poland is often used for engineering and back-office teams, and founders often compare employment contracts with civil law contracts. That comparison can be lawful or dangerous depending on how the relationship works in practice.

Hiring: contract type matters a lot
Working time: hours and overtime rules should not be guessed
Leave: statutory leave rights apply to employees
Termination: different contract types trigger different rules
Founder trap: using non-employment contracts for clearly employee-like work

Which official sources should founders watch for reliable country rules?

If you want page-one style sources with actual legal weight, start with official or quasi-official sources, not founder folklore on X or LinkedIn. These are the places to monitor when hiring across Europe:

Use these sources to confirm live rules, then ask local counsel to review your exact setup. Country guides are useful. Local facts still decide cases.

How should a startup implement compliant hiring across Europe step by step?

Phase 1: assess where you really employ people

Weeks 1 and 2 should answer one blunt question: where is work actually performed? Founders often know where the company is registered and where invoices are paid. They do not always know where employment law attaches.

Map every person by country of residence and country of work
List employee, contractor, intern, and founder roles separately
Check who has manager control, fixed schedules, company equipment, and exclusivity
Identify local payroll, tax, and social security duties
Review whether a local entity, employer of record, or contractor model is being used

Tools for this phase: payroll provider, local counsel, employment status questionnaire, contract inventory, and a simple founder risk register.

Phase 2: build the legal foundation before the team scales

Weeks 3 to 6 should focus on paperwork, policies, and workflow. Boring work saves companies.

Choose the right hiring model for each country
Draft country-fit contracts, not one global template
Set probation, notice, leave, hours, and confidentiality terms correctly
Check invention assignment and IP clauses carefully
Set payroll and social contribution handling before the first payslip
Document manager rules for leave approval, overtime, and discipline

If your startup handles employee data across borders, tie hiring setup to a GDPR compliance step-by-step process, because HR records, candidate data, and internal monitoring create privacy duties fast.

Phase 3: test your process before conflict tests it for you

Weeks 7 to 12 should stress-test your system.

Run a mock leave request and sick leave scenario
Run a mock termination workflow with local review
Audit time tracking where local law expects it
Check whether contractor relationships still look lawful in practice
Train managers to stop making promises that conflict with contracts

This is very close to Violetta’s operating principle that education must be experiential and slightly uncomfortable. Founder teams do better when they rehearse legal friction before reality rehearses it for them.

What hiring model should you choose: local entity, employer of record, or contractor?

This choice affects cash, speed, and legal exposure more than many founders admit.

Local entity

Best when you plan a real long-term team in one country. It gives control and credibility, but it also brings payroll, tax registration, social contributions, HR admin, and local filing duties.

Employer of record

Useful when you need speed without opening a local company right away. It can reduce setup pain, but it does not erase the need to understand local labor rules. It also costs money, and founders should check who handles daily management risk.

Contractor

Best only when the person is truly independent in practice. If you control hours, tools, exclusivity, and reporting like an employer, the contractor label becomes fragile.

Fast founder rule: if the role is ongoing, tightly managed, central to the business, and integrated into your internal team, assume employee risk is high until local advice says otherwise.

Which contract clauses matter most in European hiring?

Many startups obsess over compensation and equity, then paste weak legal language around everything else. That is backwards.

Job title and duties: clarity reduces later disputes
Work location: remote and hybrid language should match reality
Working hours: especially where overtime and time tracking matter
Probation period: must match local limits
Paid leave and sick leave: do not understate statutory rights
Notice period: local law may override your draft
Confidentiality: useful, but not a magic spell
IP assignment: founders in tech should check this carefully
Post-termination restrictions: non-compete enforceability varies sharply
Applicable collective agreement: a hidden landmine in some countries

And yes, if your product has user terms, subscriptions, or a platform layer, your employment setup should not exist in a vacuum. Many founders clean up hiring too late and legal pages even later. If that is you, fix both. A clean public-facing stack often starts with terms of service and privacy policy templates that match how your company really operates.

What best practices actually work for founders in 2026?

1. Build country-specific contract packs

What it is: one vetted contract pack per country, with addenda for role type, remote work, equity, and IP.

Why it works: it cuts copy-paste errors and forces founders to treat law as local, not decorative.

Choose your top hiring countries
Prepare one approved template set for each
Review them every time labor rules change or your model changes

Common pitfall: one “EU employment agreement” for all hires.

How to avoid it: ban generic templates unless local counsel signs off.

Metrics to track: contract error rate, outside counsel correction cost, hiring cycle delays.

2. Train managers, not just HR

What it is: short manager training on working time, leave approval, performance issues, documentation, and dismissal conduct.

Why it works: legal risk often starts in casual chats, Slack messages, and undocumented performance conversations.

Create country notes for managers
Train anyone who approves leave or evaluates staff
Repeat after each major hire wave

Common pitfall: thinking the lawyer solved the problem when the contract was signed.

How to avoid it: teach the people who create the facts that courts later inspect.

Metrics to track: leave disputes, policy breaches, manager escalation errors.

3. Audit contractor relationships every quarter

What it is: a recurring review of independence factors, country by country.

Why it works: a lawful contractor can slowly become an employee-like worker without anyone noticing.

Review control, exclusivity, schedule, and integration
Check invoicing and business independence
Convert risky cases before conflict happens

Common pitfall: “They asked to be a freelancer.”

How to avoid it: judge by facts, not preference.

Metrics to track: contractor count by country, reclassification risk score, conversion rate to employment.

4. Rehearse termination before you need it

What it is: a country-specific dismissal checklist with legal review for common scenarios.

Why it works: founders make the worst termination decisions under cash stress, anger, or panic.

List common exit scenarios
Prepare process checklists and document sets
Require review before any dismissal conversation

Common pitfall: emotional firing by call, email, or Slack.

How to avoid it: no manager acts alone in termination cases.

Metrics to track: disputed exits, settlement costs, dismissal process errors.

What common mistakes do founders make with employment law in Europe?

Mistake 1: Treating Europe like one employment market

Why founders do it: product and sales can scale regionally, so they assume hiring can too.

The impact: bad contracts, payroll errors, and avoidable disputes.

Map hiring country by country
Stop using one-size-fits-all templates
Review live rules before each hire

Mistake 2: Using contractors as a lazy substitute for employment

Why founders do it: speed, cost fear, and admin avoidance.

The impact: tax exposure, social contribution claims, and labor claims.

Use factual classification tests
Review manager control patterns
Convert risky roles early

Mistake 3: Forgetting collective agreements

Why founders do it: many foreign founders do not know sector agreements can shape pay and conditions even without a custom negotiation.

The impact: underpayment, wrong leave rules, wrong notice, and disputes.

Check sector coverage before drafting offers
Ask local counsel what agreement may apply
Price the role with those obligations included

Mistake 4: Botching dismissals

Why founders do it: they think business logic equals legal ground.

The impact: reinstatement risk in some systems, settlement pressure, back pay, and founder distraction.

Pause before any termination step
Review reason, procedure, notice, and evidence
Keep one responsible process owner

How do you measure whether your employment setup is healthy?

Most founders track headcount and salary burn. That is not enough. You also need a simple legal-health dashboard.

Foundational metrics

Percentage of workers with country-reviewed contracts
Percentage of contractors reviewed in the last 90 days
Leave and sick leave tracking accuracy
Time-to-payroll setup for new country hires
Manager training completion rate

Advanced metrics after 3 months

Employment dispute rate by country
Outside counsel spend by issue type
Dismissal error incidents
Policy exception count
Country-by-country total employment cost variance

What should your dashboard include?

Live worker map by country and status
Contract status and renewal alerts
Leave, absence, and working time compliance view
Contractor risk flags
Termination review log

How does employment law planning change by startup stage?

Pre-seed and seed

Your reality: tiny team, cash stress, fast experiments, too much founder improvisation.

Prioritize correct worker classification
Pick only one or two hiring countries if possible
Use reviewed templates and a payroll partner early

What to prioritize: lawful first hires, contract clarity, payroll setup.

What can wait: fancy global mobility policies.

Success looks like: no hidden employment surprises in your first 5 to 10 hires.

Series A

Your reality: growth pressure, manager layers, more countries, more process risk.

Standardize country packs
Train managers and finance together
Prepare dismissal and performance documentation workflows

What to prioritize: consistency and manager behavior.

What can wait: low-probability country expansion.

Success looks like: predictable hiring across your top markets without repeated legal fire drills.

Series B and beyond

Your reality: bigger teams, internal politics, employee representation risk, and more exits.

Build formal country governance and review cycles
Prepare for works councils, unions, and collective processes where relevant
Track legal-health metrics monthly

What to prioritize: repeatable systems and audit readiness.

What can wait: almost nothing in your top employment jurisdictions.

Success looks like: faster scaling without legal drag each time headcount doubles.

What should you do in the next 30 days?

Week 1

List every worker by country and role type
Identify any country where work is done without local review
Flag contractor relationships that feel employee-like

Week 2

Review contracts for your top hiring countries
Check working time, leave, notice, and probation language
Confirm payroll and social contributions are set correctly

Week 3

Train founders and managers on leave, overtime, and termination rules
Create one approval path for hiring and firing decisions
Set up a simple legal-health dashboard

Week 4 and after

Audit contractors quarterly
Review country rules before each new market hire
Recheck documents after labor law changes

Glossary: what do these employment law terms mean?

Collective bargaining agreement: a negotiated agreement that may set pay, hours, leave, and other working conditions for a sector or company.

Employee classification: the legal status of a worker as employee or contractor based on actual facts.

Notice period: the time that must pass between termination notice and the end of employment.

Probation period: an early employment period with special rules on assessment and sometimes easier termination.

Severance: money paid on or after termination in cases where law, contract, or settlement requires it.

Works council: an employee representation body with information, consultation, and sometimes co-decision rights in some countries.

Working time: legally regulated periods of work, rest, overtime, and scheduling.

Key takeaways founders should remember

Employment law basics by European country are not optional admin. They shape cost, hiring speed, and legal exposure from your first cross-border hire.
Europe is not one labor market. Shared worker protections exist, but national rules on contracts, leave, working time, and dismissal still differ sharply.
The fastest route is rarely the cheapest route. Contractor-heavy shortcuts can become expensive when the facts point to employment.
Termination is where sloppy founders pay tuition. Many European systems care deeply about procedure, evidence, and timing.
Founders need systems, not vibes. Country-specific contracts, manager training, payroll discipline, and recurring audits beat startup mythology every time.

The blunt founder truth is this: if you want the upside of European talent, you need the discipline to respect European employment law. That is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is part of building a company that can scale without breaking itself.

FAQ

How do you decide whether to hire in a country directly or test it first with an Employer of Record?

If headcount is small, timing is urgent, or market demand is still uncertain, an Employer of Record can reduce setup friction while you validate the country. Once hiring becomes recurring, compare EOR fees against entity, payroll, and admin costs using the European Startup Playbook.

What employment-law documents should founders prepare before making a cross-border offer?

Beyond the contract, prepare offer letters, privacy notices, IP assignment language, leave and sick-pay rules, working-time documentation, and manager guidance. In many European countries, legal exposure comes from missing supporting documents, inconsistent workflows, and unclear internal approvals rather than the employment agreement alone.

How can remote-first startups avoid accidental permanent establishment and employment-law conflicts?

Remote hiring can trigger both tax and labor issues when a worker effectively operates as a local team member. Coordinate employment review with tax, payroll, and entity planning early. Check reporting lines, signing authority, client-facing responsibilities, and where work is habitually performed before scaling remote roles.

Which countries usually require the most caution for fixed-term contracts?

France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and several other European jurisdictions often scrutinize fixed-term justification, renewal limits, and serial temporary arrangements. If the role is ongoing and core to operations, assume permanent-employment risk is high. Review local renewal rules before extending any temporary contract.

How should startups price the true cost of an employee in Europe?

Salary alone is misleading. Model employer social contributions, mandatory leave, sick-pay exposure, payroll setup, compliance tooling, notice risk, and possible collective agreement obligations. In some markets, employer cost can be materially higher than gross salary, especially where long sickness or termination protection creates hidden budget pressure.

What are the first signs that a contractor relationship is becoming risky in Europe?

Warning signs include fixed schedules, exclusivity, company equipment, manager control, internal email identity, and work that mirrors employees. If the contractor appears embedded in your operating structure, reclassification risk rises fast. A practical labor law differences guide helps benchmark this.

How often should founders review local employment-law compliance after hiring starts?

Quarterly is a good baseline for startups hiring across multiple European countries. Recheck contractor status, payroll setup, policy use, leave tracking, and contract terms after each hiring wave. Also review immediately after legal changes, reorganizations, or manager complaints, because practice often drifts away from what documents originally said.

What should founders do before their first performance-management issue becomes a dismissal case?

Create a country-specific escalation path early. Managers should document expectations, feedback, warnings, and leave-related context before discussing termination. In Europe, weak documentation can turn a solvable performance issue into an expensive dismissal dispute, especially where procedure, consultation, or evidence standards are strictly enforced.

Are equity grants enough to make weak local employment terms acceptable?

No. Equity can motivate people, but it does not replace statutory rights on leave, notice, working time, discrimination, or dismissal. If local documents are weak, offering stock options will not fix the compliance gap. Founders should align equity paperwork with country-level employment obligations from the start.

What is the smartest way to expand hiring across Europe without building legal chaos?

Limit early expansion to one or two countries, standardize country-specific contract packs, train managers, and use one approval workflow for hiring changes. The best cross-border employment law strategy is controlled repetition: fewer jurisdictions, cleaner processes, faster reviews, and no recycled templates pretending Europe works as one system.

Violetta Bonenkamp

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as Mean CEO, is a female entrepreneur and an experienced startup founder, bootstrapping her startups. She has an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 10 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely. Constantly learning new things, like AI, SEO, zero code, code, etc. and scaling her businesses through smart systems.

Employment Law Basics by European Country | Ultimate Guide For Startups | 2026 EDITION