Regulations employment anniversary bonus

Under Article 3.19, clause 2 of the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO NU), the employer establishes the following regulations.

Article 1 Employment anniversary bonus

1. When reaching 25, 40, or 50 years of service with the employer, the employee is granted a bonus.
2. As a basis for calculating the bonus, the gross monthly salary for the month in which the anniversary occurs plus an 8% holiday allowance applies.
3. The amount of the bonus is:
   a. 70% of the base calculation for a 25-year employment anniversary; and
   b. 100% of the base calculation for 40-year and 50-year employment anniversaries.
4. The bonus is paid during the calendar month in which the anniversary occurs.

Article 2 Term of employment

1. For the purposes of these regulations, term of employment is understood to mean all the time spent with an employer who was or is connected with Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP.
2. A term of employment spent simultaneously in more than on position only counts once for determining the date of the employment anniversary.
3. The term of employment does not need to be consecutive.
4. The following will not be included in the term of employment:
   a. term of employment not spent in active employment due to political responsibilities;
   b. term of employment for which an income was not earned, with the exception of the employee taking extraordinary leave partially or mostly for the sake of public interest.

Article 3 Term of employment transfer provision

For an employee who, on the date of these regulations’ entry into force, was already in the service of the employer, the term of employment that has already been accumulated according to the previous “Employment anniversary bonus scheme” from September 2002 will be retained.

Article 4 Proportional employment anniversary bonus

If the employment relationship ends due to a re-organisation or permanent disability of 80% or more, the employee receives a proportional employment anniversary bonus in proportion to the number of years of employment on the date of dismissal, provided the anniversary would have been achieved within five years of the termination of employment and the pensionable age would have been reached.

Article 5 Entry into force

The Employment Anniversary Bonus Scheme will enter into force on 8 February 2013. The Employment Anniversary Bonus Scheme from September 2002 will expire on the same date.

Explanation

Based on Article 3.19 from the CAO NU, the employee is entitled to a bonus on his/her employment anniversary. The CAO does not regulate what is understood to be term of employment or what the amount of the bonus should be. According to the CAO, the employer must establish further regulations.

In the previous Employment Anniversary Bonus Scheme, it was only established what time was considered to be part of the term of employment. In it, there were still references to the former ARAR (General Government Official Regulations) and references to former ABP (General Pension) employers, who have since gone private (e.g. N.V. Nederlandse Spoorwegen). At this time, the regulation has been updated and simplified. All time spent at an employer who was or is associated with Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP counts towards the term of employment.

The bonus is only net if the fiscal regulations permit this. According to the current fiscal regulations, the bonus must be paid net after reaching a term of service of at least 25 years or at least 40 years. The 50-year bonus is taxed (assuming that the employee has received a bonus at 25 or 40 years) as is the proportional employment anniversary bonus.