Depending on the university where you work, you will have an employment contract (at a special university) or an appointment (at a public university). This should be stated on the letter you received upon entering into service. Alternatively, please contact the P&O department of your university.

An appointment is a unilateral decision made by a decision-making body (the university) to take a person into service and is subject to the Dutch Civil Servants Act. An employment contract is a contract concluded between an employer and an employee concerning their employment relationship and is subject to the Dutch Civil Code. A Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) is applicable to both an appointment and an employment contract, but may include specific provisions applicable to either public or special universities.

Section 2 of the Working Hours Adjustment Act states the regulations that apply to deviations from the working hours agreed upon. The employer is entitled to deny such a request if it is contrary to substantial business interests.

To submit a request you must:

• first discuss the desired adjustment with your employer
• have worked for your current employer for at least one year before submitting the request
• submit the request four months before the desired change is to take effect
• be aware that an employee can submit no more than one request every two years.

Yes, subject to certain conditions, you will continue to receive 62.5% of your remuneration when you are on parental leave (see CAO regulations). In addition, you are entitled to a supplementary contribution from the government in the form of a tax credit. For more information, please contact the P&O department of your university.

The extension of the legal right to parental leave from 13 to 26 weeks will have no immediate effect on the continued payment regulation in the CAO of a maximum of 13 weeks. This means that there is no entitlement to continued pay over the remaining part of the 26 weeks. A tax benefit in the form of a parental leave rebate is applicable to this period.

The amount earned in a specific salary grade is shown here. In addition, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance over your remuneration and an end-of-year bonus amounting to 8.3% of your salary received in that calendar year.

Note: The holiday allowance and end-of-year bonus are not included in the salary and must be added to the salary amount.

This is indeed possible as long as you have not yet reached the maximum in your salary grade. For more information, see artikel 3.3 CAO. If your employer is of the opinion that you perform your duties satisfactorily, your salary can be increased on an annual basis to the next amount in the salary grade. If you do not perform your duties adequately, you may not be granted a salary increase at all. If you perform your duties very well or extremely well, your salary may be increased to a higher amount than listed in the salary grade. A rise in salary is only possible if you have not yet reached the maximum salary in your salary grade.

You are only entitled to overtime compensation if you are a member of the support and management staff in a lower salary grade than grade 11 and your employer explicitly instructed you to work overtime. Overtime is taken to mean work performed outside of the working hours applicable to your situation and your working hours factor is exceeded (see art. 3.28 CAO). No compensation is granted for overtime of less than half an hour directly after the close of the regular working day. Compensation for overtime consists of leave equal to the duration of the overtime, and additional leave.

The employer grants extra leave based on the following rules:

• 25% for overtime worked between 7:00 and 18:00 from Mondays to Fridays;
• 50% for overtime worked before 7:00 or after 18:00 from Mondays to Fridays and the hours between 00:00 and 16:00 on Saturdays;
• 100% for overtime worked after 16:00 on Saturdays, and for overtime worked on Sundays and public holidays.

Financial compensation can be granted in lieu of leave expressed in time if this does not contradict business interests. This must always be in consultation with the P&O department of your university.

Pursuant to artikel 4.2 CAO, an employee’s working hours shall not exceed five working days a week. These days must be successive, if possible. In determining working hours, an employer shall, insofar as can reasonably be expected, take into account the personal circumstances of the employee outside of working hours as much as possible (Section 4:1A of the Working Hours Act).

If you are pregnant you are entitled to at least 16 weeks of post and pre-maternity leave. The actual term and commencement of the leave are regulated in the Work and Care Act and also depend on the date on which the baby is due and the actual date of the birth (also see art. 4.11 and 4.12 CAO).

A flexible working hours scheme entails that you come to an arrangement with your superior about a non-standard distribution of your working hours across the week. A full-time working week is comprised of 38 hours and can be lengthened or shortened in exchange for more or fewer days of leave. An employer is entitled to deny such a request if it is contrary to business interests. (see art. 5.6 CAO) An overview has been included in Bijlage G of the CAO showing the possible variations and their consequences on the leave that can be taken.

Continuation payment of salary in the event of illness is 100% during the first nine months and subsequently 76% in the following 15 months if you have become ill on or after 1 January 2008.

If you have become unemployed because your employment contract with a university has come to an end, you are entitled to a benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW) if you meet the applicable requirements. In addition, you may be entitled to the bovenwettelijke werkloosheidsuitkering (BWNU, only available in Dutch) if you meet certain requirements. You will, for example, only be eligible to receive an ex gratia payment in accordance with the Unemployment Regulation of the Dutch Universities Exceeding the Statutory Minimum (BWNU) if you are also eligible for a benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW). The ex gratia payment can supplement your benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW) or can directly succeed your WW benefit after it has been terminated.
The duration of your supplementary benefit is equal to the duration of the WW benefit. The WW benefit will first be supplemented up to 78% during the first 12 months and then up to 70% of the non-maximised calculation basis.
Upon termination of the WW period you may also be entitled to an unemployment benefit immediately following.
If you wish to know whether you are eligible for an ex gratia payment in accordance with the BWNU, please consult the P&O department of your university. The requirements for a benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW) are published on www.uwv.nl.

You can only apply for an ex gratia payment in accordance with the Unemployment Regulation of the Dutch Universities Exceeding the Statutory Minimum (BWNU) if you also apply for a benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW). Please refer to your university for the exact requirements. For more information, see the Bovenwettelijke Werkloosheidsregeling (BWNU, only available in Dutch).

The application form for an ex gratia payment in accordance with the BWNU must be submitted to Raet. The same regulations and terms apply to an application for an ex gratia payment in accordance with the BWNU as to a benefit in accordance with the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW). The application must be submitted within seven days after you have become unemployed.

Yes, you can look for more information in the Ziekte- en Arbeidsongeschiktheidsregeling (ZANU, only available in Dutch). The Eligibility for Permanent Invalidity Benefit (Restrictions) Act (Wvp) and the Work and Income (Ability to Work) Act (WIA) have been incorporated here.

Generally speaking, there are two aspects of job classification that are open to objection. An employee may be of the opinion that his or her duties belong in a different job profile than the one in which he or she has been classified. Alternatively, he or she may agree with the manner in which his job profile has been classified, but may not agree with the level. Objections can be lodged against both of these aspects. For more information, please consult the bezwarenreglement UFO (Dutch).

An overview of all available job profiles and levels and their correspondence to salary grades can be found in the functieniveau matrix (Dutch)

Many provisions in the current CAO (for example, those concerning leave, attendance and time (i.e. overtime compensation)) do not appeal equally to all academics. Universities including function-based contracts in the CAO take special consideration of the specific practice and output of their academic staff.

In mutual consultation with your superior you will be given the freedom to determine by yourself how you intend to achieve the results and will in this way be able to create your own basic conditions. You will largely be able to determine your own schedule and when you will go on leave. Of course, this must all be in consultation with your superior, with whom you will also discuss arrangements for your accessibility during this period. Review of and accountability for performance will become a key issue within your unit.

The provisions as regards working hours and leave in the CAO are not applicable to you. The sources from the employment conditions individual choices model such as salary, holiday allowance and end-of-year bonus can be exchanged for the purchase of a bicycle, for instance, or additional commuter compensation. It is not possible to exchange leave hours as a source or a target in the employment conditions individual choices model.

• A function-based contract ensures that you will have adequate professional space in your own work.
• Because a function-based contract allows you to schedule your own hours, it is easier to combine your work and other, care-related or domestic duties.
• agreements made with your superior provide mutual clarity about what is expected of you, creating a more mature work relationship as you will be held accountable for your own performance.
• You will no longer be required to fill in your leave card.
• You can make clear individual agreements about taking up sabbatical leave.

In order to realise this degree of freedom and manner of working, time-related provisions such as terms and working hours, holiday leave, the senior staff scheme and part of the individual choices model will no longer apply for you (for a complete overview, see the CAO article). You can plan your leave days by yourself and will no longer be required to record your leave and working times during the period agreed, which will normally cover one calendar year. Taking into consideration that function-based contracts do not cover such a thing as leave, the long-term saving option will not apply to you. You will not be able to save up leave days for a sabbatical. This is why explicit individual agreements must be recorded for sabbatical leave.

The CAO article about paid parental leave will be cancelled. If you do wish to conclude a function-based contract, you must discuss the consequences of parental leave on your annual agreements with your superior. Another option would be to refrain from entering into a function-based contract during your parental leave period. This subject is a point of discussion in the nation-wide evaluation of this experiment.

There is no such thing as leave entitlement or leave any more. As you can now schedule your own leave days in consultation with your superior, you will no longer be required to record them.

There is no need to panic if you failed to meet some of your annual agreements due to unforeseen circumstances. Taking into account the nature of your work, this can happen. This is why sufficient room has been incorporated into your annual agreements to balance situations such as these. The objective of an assessment interview is to review your performance during the past year in light of the set agreements. Together with your superior, you can discuss the reason why you were not able to meet the agreements and you may conclude that unforeseen activities were just as important. Furthermore, the possibility of unforeseen circumstances leading to amendments to or suspension of the agreements set down in a function-based contract has been incorporated into the CAO

Taking into account that this is a new instrument in the CAO, it is very well possible that you will run into some problems in practice. This is inherent to the nature of any experiment. It is essential that feedback is collected as this will provide information useful to all parties in determining the most adequate form in which function-based contracts can be embedded into the CAO.

Provisions concerning the life course savings scheme are included in art. 4.16b and 4.16c of the CAO. You can opt for the life course savings scheme via the individual choices model. For more information about the provisions applicable to individual situations, please contact the P&O department of your university.

The employer may instruct the employee to attend compulsory study or training courses, if so required for the latter to function properly in a current or future position. The employer is required to make available the necessary facilities (see art. 6.9 lid 2 CAO).

You can participate in the senior staff scheme as mentioned in the CAO (see page 50 CAO) as from the age of 59. This scheme will run only until 1 March 2010. Additional schemes and/or regulations may also apply at different universities. The P&O department of your university will be able to provide further details.

Supported by reasons and based on reasonable grounds, a temporary employment contract at a public university can be dissolved prematurely by the employer and employee, provided that a notice period is observed of (see art. 8.3 CAO):

• Can my temporary employment contract be dissolved prematurely?
• two months, if this concerns an employment contract for a period between 6 and 12 months;
• one month, if this concerns an employment contract for a period shorter than six months.

Because employment at special universities is subject to the Dutch Civil Code and the Extraordinary Labour Relations Decree (BBA), special provisions have been incorporated into the CAO regarding dissolution and termination in art. 8.11 CAO. Employment law-related regulations regarding giving notice, such as a required dismissal permit for non-teaching staff, are applicable to the employment relationship at special universities. A premature termination clause must also be explicitly included in your employment contract.

In principle, you cannot be dismissed during the first two years of sick leave (art 8.7 lid 1 sub a1). Under certain circumstances, an employee can be dismissed while on sick leave if he or she refuses without good reason (art 8.8 CAO):

• to comply with reasonable instructions or measures taken to enable him or her to carry out  suitable work; or
• to carry out suitable work; or
• to cooperate in drawing up and adhering to a plan of action.
  

The employment contract terminates on the day the employee reaches the age of 65 (see art. 8.4 CAO). If your employer agrees, a new employment contract can be concluded.

Employees in full-time employment are entitled to 232 hours of holiday leave a year. This number may be higher or lower, for employees who were awarded ‘age-related hours’ or were born before 1950. These additional regulations are stated in artikel 4.7 (and artikel 4.8 for employees of special universities) of the CAO.
Additional schemes and/or regulations may apply at different universities. Please contact the P&O department of your university for further details.

The following are observed as public holidays: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, 5 May, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Whit Monday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and 30 April. Generally speaking, no work is carried out on these days unless the interests of the institution render this unavoidable.
A university may also observe local holidays in addition to these holidays. Please contact the P&O department of your university for further details.

Employees should take up their holiday leave in the year during which entitlement is built up. Carrying over leave days into the next year is only permitted in consultation with your employer. If you have not come to an arrangement concerning your holidays by 1 July, your employer is permitted to set down your holiday leave days amounting to a maximum of four times your working hours per week.
Your university may have made agreements about carrying over holidays following consultation with local employers’ organisations. For further details regarding such agreements, please contact the P&O department of your university.

If you are ill or occupationally disabled you can accrue holiday leave days over a maximum of six months. Periods of sick leave with less than one month in between are totalled up ( see art. 4.7 lid 11 CAO). If you have a flexible working time arrangement that was agreed before you became ill or occupationally disabled, that arrangement will remain in full force during the entire sick leave period. Settlement of leave days under the arrangement with the accumulated holiday leave shall be limited to six months. Holiday leave will be accrued in proportion to the degree of occupational disability.

Most employees of Dutch universities build up a pension at the General Pension Fund for Public Employees (ABP) (see CAO art. 7.1.1.). If you require more information about your pension, please contact the ABP.

The old age pension under the General Old Age Pensioners Act (AOW) is a basic pension for everyone aged 65 and older. Employees of Dutch universities supplement this with a pension under the General Pension Fund for Public Employees (ABP). Employees aged 60 and older are entitled to the ABP selective pension scheme if they were born in or after 1950. Employees can also choose to take out an annuity insurance policy at a private insurance company. To view your current pension status, contact the ABP or go to "Mijn ABP" at the ABP website.

Pension build-up continues in full during the first two years of sick leave. If you were employed on a full-time basis and are fully occupationally disabled you will still build up 50% of your pension on a non-contributory basis after your dismissal. If you were born before 1950 you will build up 70% of a non-contributory pension until you have reached the age of 62. If you are partially disabled, your non-contributory pension build-up will be proportional to this. For more information about your specific situation, please contact the ABP.

If you have become unemployed within the meaning of the Dutch Unemployment Act (WW) before 1 January 2011 and meet all applicable requirements, you may also be entitled to a contribution from the Supplementary Pension Insurance Foundation (FVP). Under certain conditions, the FVP grants a contribution free of charge to minimise any gaps in pension build-up for people who have become unemployed. This scheme only applies to employees who were 40 years of age or older on the first day of unemployment. Go to www.svb.nl for more information about this scheme and the requirements.
Under the General Pension Fund for Public Employees (ABP), unemployed workers who were employed on a full-time basis will still accrue 37.5% of their pension. The pension is built up proportionally for employees in part-time employment.