Travel and moving expenses regulations

With effect from 1 September 2021, the Travel and Moving Expenses Scheme below will enter into force again, with due observance of the implementation instructions regarding the Travel and Moving Expenses Scheme Radboud University. These implementation instructions lay out how the Travel and Moving Expenses Scheme should be applied from 1 September 2021.

Travel and Moving Expenses Regulations Radboud University

Determined and agreed by the Executive Board with the employee organisations in the Local Council meeting on 2 December 2022.

The employer has laid down the following regulations with regard to Article 3.20, section 1a and Article 10.2, section 2 of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of Dutch Universities.

Paragraph I General

Article 1    Definitions

In these regulations, the following are defined as:
a.    Place of residence: the municipality in which the employee is registered in the Municipal Personal Records Database (GBA).
b.    Place of employment: the municipality in which the employee, as instructed by their employer, carries out their work.
c.    Campus: the University grounds and buildings.
d.    Travel distance: the distance between place of residence and campus in kilometres per single journey, in accordance with a travel planner applied by the employer.
e.    Independent household: the independent occupation of a residence furnished with own furniture and fabrics. The employer will be the judge of this.
f.    Family members: the employee’s spouse or partner and the employee’s own children, step and foster children and/or those of their spouse or permanently cohabiting life partner.
g.    Annual sum: 12 times the monthly salary earned by the employee on the date of relocation.

Paragraph II Travel expenses

Article 2    Basic travel allowance for commuting expenses

Irrespective of the method of transport, employees shall receive a monthly, tax-free travel allowance in accordance with the table below.

Article 3 Reimbursement of public transport expenses

1. 1.    The employee who:
   a.    lives further than 25 km from the campus;
   b.    has a contract of employment for two years or less;
   c.    is not eligible to claim moving expenses as described in Article 8, section 1, and
   d.    uses public transport for travelling between their home and place of work; 
   shall receive, for a maximum of two years, an allowance that, together with the basic allowance, is equal to 100% of the expenses incurred by using public transport (second class public transport and/or the least expensive option).
2. Other employees who use public transport for travelling between home and work shall, irrespective of the distance between home and work, receive an allowance that, together with the basic allowance, equals 75% of the expenses incurred by using public transport (second class public transport and/or the least expensive option).
3. The employee declares the actual costs of the public transport or the subscription costs (if this is the cheapest way to travel), submitting (uploading) the invoice issued in their name with a statement of the journeys made, the transport tickets or a transaction overview of the personal OV-chipkaart/NS-business Card. If the fiscal conditions are not met (or if this is proven retrospectively), the employee shall be responsible for any fiscal consequences, which will be paid from their net salary.

Article 4 Bicycle allowance

The employee, not being the employee described in Article 3, who lives within a maximum distance of 10 km from the campus and uses a bicycle to travel between home and place of work on more than half of their working days receives a monthly tax-free travel allowance calculated according to the following table. For this purpose, the employee signs a bicycle declaration, which is endorsed by their immediate/line manager. The employer keeps the declaration in their administration.

Article 5 Travel allowance for student assistants and standbyemployees

1.    If a student assistant does not use free student transport, they shall receive a travel allowance calculated in accordance with these regulations. Articles 2, 3 and 4 of these regulations shall apply for student assistants with a normal contract of employment. The provisions laid down in this Article shall apply to student assistants with a contract of employment for standby employees.
2.    Student assistants working as standby employees shall, irrespective of the method of transport used, receive a fixed, tax-free travel allowance per day in accordance with the table below:

3.    Student assistants working as standby employees who use public transport for travelling between home and work shall receive € 0.16 per km for public transport expenses incurred per day of travel (this includes the basic allowance).
4.    Student assistants working as standby staff who use a bicycle to travel between home and work will receive a fixed, tax-free travel allowance per day in accordance with the table below. The student assistant must sign a cycle declaration, which is endorsed by the immediate/line manager. The employer keeps the declaration in their administration.

5. The provisions laid down in this Article shall also apply to standby employees.

Article 6 Other provisions for travel allowance

1. Claims for travel allowance must be submitted to the employer no later than three months after the expenses are incurred. Furthermore, the allowance may not be granted before 1 January of the calendar year (fiscal year) in which the request was made
2. Travel allowance shall continue to be paid during annual leave.
3. Travel allowance shall continue to be paid during the current and following calendar month of absence due to sick leave. On return from sick leave, travel allowance shall commence being paid as of the first of the month following the month of return to work. The Decree of 6 September 2022, no. 2022-192540  of the Netherlands State Secretary for Finance shall apply accordingly.
4. Travel allowance will not be paid during a period of absence due to maternity leave, paternity leave or other special leave (paid or otherwise).
5. If an employee moves to a new place of residence, the amount reimbursed for travel expenses shall be amended in accordance with the provisions laid down in Articles 2 and 3, unless the nature and description of the job require that the employee lives in or close to the place of employment.
6. Employees who are required to perform standby duty and who must be able to reach the location quickly in the event of a fault/breakdown shall receive an extra allowance of 
   € 0.21 per km if using private transportation.
7. The kilometre allowance referred to in the previous paragraph shall be adjusted annually in line with general price developments, up to no more than the maximum tax-free reimbursement amount.

Paragraph III Obligation to relocate and reimbursement of moving costs

Article 7 Obligation to relocate

Employees may be obliged to relocate when commencing or changing jobs if the nature and content of the job require that the employee lives in or close to the place of employment. An obligation to relocate involves the employee being obliged to take up residence in or close to the place of employment in accordance with the employer’s instructions. The term within which the relocation must be completed shall be up to a maximum of two years.

Article 8 Eligibility for reimbursement of moving expenses

1. The following employees may be eligible for reimbursement of moving expenses:
   a.    Employees who:
   -    live further than 25 km from the campus;
   -    have moved house at the request of the employer at the latest within two years of commencing employment, and
   -    who have agreed with the employer beforehand that they would fulfil the obligation to relocate by moving house.
   b.    Employees who:
   -    live further than 25 km from the campus;
   -    have a contract of employment pursuant to Article 2.3 of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of one year or more with the prospect of indefinite employment, and
   -    have moved house at the latest within two years of commencing employment.
   c.    Employees who:
   -    live further than 25 km from the campus;
   -    have a fixed-term employment contract pursuant to Article 2.2a of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) and move house at the latest within two years of commencing employment, or
   -    have a fixed-term contract as a PhD candidate pursuant to Article 2.3 paragraph 8 of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) and move house within two years of commencing employment.
   The employee must move to a location that is at least 60% closer to the campus than their previous residence.
2. The employee must declare in writing that they will repay the reimbursement of moving expenses in full if they:
   a.    terminate the contract of employment by mutual agreement within two years of moving house;
   b.    are dismissed within two years of moving house and due to fault on the part of themselves;
   c.    relocate within two years of moving house to a location that makes them once more obliged to move, or whereby the employee will again be living further than 25 km from the campus.
3. The employee must declare in writing that neither they nor any other family member are in any way eligible for any other reimbursement of moving expenses. If the relocation involves a family in which both partners are employed by Radboud University and both are eligible for reimbursement of moving expenses, the reimbursement shall be paid to one partner only.
4. Requests for the reimbursement of moving expenses must be submitted to the employer no later than three months after the move has taken place. Failure to meet these conditions shall result in the cancellation of eligibility for moving expenses.

Article 9 Amount for reimbursement of moving expenses

1. The amount paid for reimbursement of moving expenses comprises a reimbursement of the costs of moving possessions (transport costs) augmented by
   a.    a reimbursement for all other expenses directly related to the moving and up to 12% of the annual sum, from a minimum of € 3000 to a maximum of € 5445, if the employee moves their own household effects, or
2. a reimbursement for all other expenses directly related to the moving and up to 3% of the annual sum from a minimum of € 1000 to a maximum of € 1361.25 if the employee does not move their own household effects.When relocating within the Netherlands, employees must always request a quote from the removal company appointed by the employer. Employees who have removals carried out by removal companies other than that appointed by the employer are eligible for reimbursement of transport costs up to a maximum of those quoted (and in accordance with the norm) by the removals company appointed by the employer. In the event of an international relocation, employees should request a quote from both the removal company appointed by the employer and a locally established removal company. Employees are eligible for a reimbursement of the transport costs up to a maximum of the lower of the two quotes.
3. Employees who carry out removals of their possessions independently are only eligible for reimbursement of demonstrable rental costs and/or car/van/lorry fuel costs.

Paragraph IV Temporary accommodation

Article 10 Costs of temporary accommodation and related travel expenses

1. Employees who are obliged to move, but have not yet moved and are not able to travel back and forth on a daily basis according to the employer, are eligible for full reimbursement of expenses for temporary accommodation in or close to the place of employment, up to a maximum of € 400 a month. The employee is also eligible for a travel allowance for costs incurred by family visits or travel to their place of residence up to once a week. This remuneration of travel expenses is equal to the cost of using public transport (lowest available tariff) or € 0.21 per km if using own transport and up to a maximum of € 95 a week.
2. The kilometre allowance referred to in the previous paragraph shall be adjusted annually in line with general price developments, up to no more than the maximum tax-free reimbursement amount.
3. The employee, as described in Section 1, is also eligible for a partial reimbursement of the daily travel expenses between the temporary address and the campus in accordance with provisions laid down in Articles 2, 3 and/or 4.
4. Claims should be submitted within three months of the date that costs are incurred.

Paragraph V Other provisions

Article 11    Hardship clause

The employer may provide additional customised provisions for travel between home and work depending on the special (personal) circumstances of the employee concerned. 

Article 12    Enforcement

These regulations will enter into force as of 1 January 2023. 

Explanatory notes on the Travel and moving expenses regulation Radboud University 

General

For many years, Radboud University has been paying attention to its parking and accessibility problems with a view to maintaining a green campus. Various measures have been taken in order to control this problem, but the main conclusion in 2002 was that the use of cars by staff members, students and visitors to the campus had not been limited. The memorandum entitled Vervoer en Bereikbaarheid Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (‘Transport and Accessibility, Radboud University Nijmegen), dated 10 February 2003, records the goal to reduce (individual) car use and to stimulate the use of carpooling, public transport and bicycles.

Sustainable solutions are needed to keep the campus accessible and to uphold the image of Radboud University for students, staff and visitors. Finally, it is desirable to control the rising costs of parking.

These regulations for travel and moving expenses correspond with the policy of accessibility and quality of life, and feature the following principles:

• Limited travel allowance for car users;
• Substantial travel allowance for users of public transport;
• Reimbursement for cyclists;
• Adequate reimbursement of moving expenses.

Own household

The term 'own household' is defined as: occupying a residence consisting of at least two rooms, equipped with personal household effects, including, furniture, the usual upholstery and personal kitchen equipment, at the discretion of the employer.

Travel allowance

The travel allowance scheme is structured according to the following outline:

• Employees who live further than 10 km from the campus receive a basic allowance for the cost of travelling between home and work, irrespective of the method of transport used.
• Employees who live within a 10 km radius of the campus and travel by bicycle receive a monthly allowance for doing so.
• Employees receive a public transport allowance that, together with the basic remuneration, equals 75% of the expenses incurred (2nd class public transport and/or the least expensive option).
• Standby employees receive a fixed allowance for travel expenses incurred per day.

Since all employees pay the same amount for parking, carpooling is encouraged so that that parking expenses can be shared. The distance between home and the University is calculated using the route planner at www.anwb.nl (Dutch language only). The university’s postal code is 6525 HR. Using the option ‘kortste route’ (shortest route), a distance is shown that is rounded up to whole kilometres. The results of this calculation are binding.

Radboud University is affiliated with the transport coordination centre TC&O Mobydesk. TC&O has large-scale consumer contracts with the NS (Dutch Railways). This allows employees to purchase various types of passes at special rates (average discount of 5%). Travel allowances for public transport are therefore capped at the rates of the large-scale user’s contract. Payment of the purchased season tickets / 5 x return trip tickets is made through TC&O. Employees may choose to pay the bill in a single instalment or by direct debit.

The Decree of 6 September 2022, no. 2022-192540 of the Netherlands State Secretary for Finance, now states that travel allowance may be paid to cover the current and following calendar month of absence due to sick leave. On return from sick leave, the travel allowance shall only commence being paid as of the first of the month following the month of return to work. This also applies for the reimbursement of public transport expenses. If an employee does not use their public transport pass (OV kaart) for longer than two months, they can request a refund of the costs via the TC&O transport coordination centre, 0497-532410.

Travel allowance for student assistants (on standby) and other standby employees

Article 10.2, section 2 of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) for Dutch Universities states that employers must determine rules on travel expenses for student assistants. Provisions to this effect are laid down in Article 5. Articles 2, 3 and 4 of these regulations apply for student assistants with normal contracts of employment. The conditions laid down in Article 5 apply for student assistants with contracts of employment for standby employees, as applies for all standby employees.

A fixed allowance per day for travel expenses has been determined for administrative reasons. These have been derived from the allowances quoted in Articles 2, 3 and 4. Both the basic allowance and the allowance per day for cycle journeys have been calculated according to the following formula: (three months x allowance amount) ÷ 65 days. The allowance for public transport expenses is calculated according to the following formula: 75% x € 0.21 (maximum tax-free kilometre allowance) = € 0.16.
This includes the basic allowance. The amount paid in kilometre allowance is equal to average public transport tariffs.

Obligation to relocate

Employees are no longer obliged to move, except when the job content requires the staff member to live close to the campus. This applies to staff members such as animal carers, crop carers and technical support services, because it is essential that they can be on site within a very short period of time. An obligation to move may only be imposed on the commencement of employment and/or change of job.

Moving allowance

As part of the policy of sustainable accessibility at Radboud University, employees who live more than 25 km from the campus will be encouraged to move to Nijmegen and/or the surrounding area. A reimbursement of moving expenses (tax-free) will be made for employees who move within two years of commencing employment if they move to within a distance of 10 km from their work or if the travelling distance is reduced by at least 60% and at least 10 km (fiscal preconditions). 

If an employee relocates at their own initiative, it is reasonable for the employer, who provides a moving allowance in connection to this move, to receive a return that investment for a certain period of time. A provision has therefore been made, in which a contract of employment is entered into for a minimum of one year and that the employee must pay back the reimbursed moving expenses in certain circumstances.

In the event of relocating, employees must always request a quote from the removal company appointed by the employer. Employees who have removals carried out by a different removals company to that appointed by the employer, are eligible for a reimbursement of the transport costs up to a maximum of those quoted by the removal company designated by the employer. The requested quote(s) should be enclosed with the moving allowance application form.

The Executive Board’s designated removal company is European Movers UTS Nederland. The head office is located at: Bedrijvenpark Forepark Wolga 2, 2491 BJ Den Haag.

The address for correspondence is: Postbus 91526, 2509 EC Den Haag. Telephone: 088-0023000. Quotations can be requested from UTS Verkroost Nijmegen, telephone number: 024-3775322. 

For international relocation, where the costs are more than € 10,000, employees should also request quotations from Modial Movers BV (address: Kelvinring 52b, 2952 BG Alblasserdam Postal address: P.O. Box 91, 2950 AB Alblasserdam. Telephone: 078-6990333 Website: www.mondial-movers.nl) as well as a local removal company. Employees who relocate with a removal firm other than that designated by the employer are entitled to a reimbursement of the costs of transport up to a maximum of the quotation submitted by the employer’s designated removal firm. The requested quotation(s) must be enclosed with the application for moving cost reimbursement. 

A brochure is available from UTS that states which moving expenses can be reimbursed, which work activities the employee must pay themselves, and how the employee should proceed if they do relocate.

Temporary accommodation

Employees who are obliged to move but have not yet done so, and who require temporary accommodation in Nijmegen or its immediate surroundings, due to the fact that their job responsibilities prevent them from commuting between their home and work on a daily basis, are eligible for adequate reimbursement of the related expenses. Accommodation expenses will be reimbursed in full, up to a maximum sum per month. 

Furthermore, the employee concerned receives a travel allowance to cover one family visit per week, also up to a maximum sum, since it may be necessary for an employee to travel abroad in order to visit their family. 
The employee is also eligible for partial reimbursement of the daily travel expenses incurred between the temporary address and the campus.

Hardship clause

Depending on the special (personal) circumstances of the employee, the employer may provide additional, personalised allowances for commuting. These benefits are subject to relevant fiscal constraints:

Basic allowance

The maximum tax-free basic travel allowance is € 0.21 per full kilometre travelled, provided that travel is not undertaken by plane, ship or a vehicle belonging to the University and/or its customer and/or other third parties. When determining the amount of tax-free allowance, it is important to take into account days that do not include travel, such as bank holidays, annual leave and sick leave.

Reimbursement of public transport expenses:

Costs incurred by the use of public transport can be fully reimbursed.

Reimbursement of moving costs

For employees who qualify for a tax-free reimbursement of moving costs, the employer may reimburse both the costs of transporting the household effects and other costs that arise directly from the move, up to a maximum of € 7,750.

Reimbursement of bicycle purchase costs:

Reimbursement for purchasing a bicycle for work commutes and other bicycle-related expenses. Employees may use resources from the Selection Model once every three calendar years to purchase a bicycle tax-free (with or without electric pedal assistance) for the purpose of commuting to and from work. Other bicycle-related items may be purchased in addition to the bicycle (e.g. bicycle insurance and bicycle accessories). The employer can offer a maximum tax-free reimbursement of € 1,500 (including VAT).

Reimbursement of temporary accommodation and related travel expenses

Employee reimbursement for temporary housing costs or the provision of housing near the place of employment (outside one's own place of residence) in order to fulfil the terms of employment is exempt from taxation. This regulation does not apply to extraterritorial employees who are eligible for the 30% regulation.

Employees living temporarily in or close to the place of employment and who visit their families periodically (or travel to their place of residence), may receive a tax-free reimbursement of the travel expenses incurred. Car travel expenses incurred in relation to family visits may be reimbursed tax-free up to a maximum of € 0.21 per km.