The Netherlands has embarked on sweeping pension reform that will affect most employer-sponsored and industry-wide pension plans and require significant effort from employers, employee representatives, pension providers, and asset managers over the next several years to amend schemes by the 1 January 2028 deadline. Employers should begin their transition planning now.
The Dutch government decided at the beginning of 2023 to eliminate the premium discounts that were historically available to group health insurance plans, known locally as collectives (collectiviteitskorting). This has left some employers reconsidering the value of a group plan and whether they should consider offering other benefits to offset the loss of the premium discount.
Update: On 12 October 2021, the Dutch Senate approved the Paid Parental Leave Act. The Act will enter into force, as expected, on 2 August 2022. The new bill will implement the European Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers and […]
Update: On 1 July 2020, an additional five weeks of parental leave was granted to partners whose child was born on or after 1 July 2020. Partners are now entitled to one full week of paid leave by the employer […]
The Netherlands’ 2020 budget, which passed on 1 January 2020, slightly increased health insurance premiums for the basic package by approximately EUR 37 per year. In addition, the 2020 budget lowered the discounted health insurance premium that insurance providers could […]
The deadline for compliance with the Working Conditions Act (“Arbowet”) expired 1 July 2018, for existing occupational health provider contracts. The Act, which was amended 1 July 2017, mandates employers to offer employees access to an occupational health doctor (which […]
Beginning 1 January 2019, the qualifying period of the “30 percent ruling,” which allows expatriate employees a tax-free allowance or a reimbursement of 30 percent of their employment income, will be shortened from eight to five years. The amendment will […]
Starting 1 January 2019, pension providers will be allowed to automatically transfer the total contributions of participants who have accrued rights to an annual pension between EUR 2 and EUR 474.11 to another pension provider after employment termination.