P&O News 31 January 2012
Individual Choices Model Terms of Employment available from 1 February ● Date of birth to become entry date for pension from 1 April 2012 ● Change in collective closure days ● Winner of luxury weekend announced
Individual Choices Model Terms of Employment available from 1 February
The Individual Choices Model Terms of Employment in essence consists of the option to exchange certain employment conditions for others. For example, you can 'sell' extra holidays, make use of the option to claim your commuting costs so as to gain maximum tax advantage, or buy a new bicycle.
The scheme now includes the changes applicable to 2012 and you can use the Individual Choices Model from 1 February to indicate your options for 2012.
The Individual Choices Model Terms of Employment is now available in digital form and is part of Self Service, where you also submit your requests for vacation days. When you log in, and select a form in Self Service, all your personal details have already been entered. You only need to indicate the specifics of your request, before submitting the form digitally.
Date of birth to become entry date for pension from 1 April 2012
On 6 December 2011 the Dutch Parliament agreed a change to the Pension Regulation. It was decided that the Pension will no longer start on the first of the month in which an individual reaches the age of 65, but on his or her actual birthday. The change takes effect on 1 April 2012.
The present Collective Employment Agreement states that the pension date is the first of the month in which you reach the age of 65. This is also the date on which your employment contract ends. The parties to the Collective Employment Agreement will discuss the change to the date of termination of employment so that the pension entry date and the date of termination of employment will fall on the same day.
In practice, this measure will have little effect up to and including 2014 because the FPU (Flexible Pension Scheme) still applies to employees who reach the age of 65 during this period.
Extra collective closure dates
The Executive Board and the Local Consultative Body decided on 9 June 2011 to implement two extra collective closure dates: 24 December 2012, and a date far in the future, 31 december 2018.
Winner of luxury weekend announced
Last year, staff who ordered a new bicycle through the Individual Choices Model Terms of Employment had the chance of winning a luxury weekend in a hotel in the Veluwe. The prize has been won by Khaled Mohamed Mahmoud Younes, PhD candidate at the Faculty of Humanities. He was presented with the prize on 25 January by Edith Verlinde of Nationale Fiets Projecten (NFP). A number of colleagues were present at the ceremony, including Professor Petra Sijpesteijn, Younes' PhD supervisor.