What the new Pension Act means for you and your employees

The supplementary pension that employees accrue through your company will change due to the new pension act. This came into effect on 1 July 2023. This pension is a supplement to the General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW), the basic pension that retirees receive from the government.

Pension providers have until 1 January 2028 to make and implement new agreements with employers and employees.

This changes for employers

Due to the new pension act, you have to adjust agreements with your employees. This happens collectively if you are affiliated with a collective labour agreement (CAO). If not, you will have to make new pension agreements with your staff yourself. Pension providers then adjust the old agreements.

As before, you pay a premium to your pension provider every month. You withhold part of this from your employee's wages: the employee's share. The premium no longer depends on the age of your employee.

With a collective labour agreement

If you have to comply with CAO, you do not have to do anything for the time being. Trade unions and pension providers are making new pension agreements.

Your employees will receive information about this. What role you play in this depends on the new agreements.

Not with a collective labour agreement

If you are not affiliated with a CAO, you must make your own agreements with your employees and pension provider. You should consider, among other things, how your provider invests the premium and whether you opt for a transitional arrangement.

Transitional arrangement

Together with your staff representatives or works council, you determine, among other things, whether employees immediately make use of the new pension agreements or a transitional arrangement. With the transitional arrangement, the old pension agreements continue to apply to your current employee. New employees who join the company are covered by the new pension agreements.

Premiums and investments

You also have to think about the pension scheme itself. For example, what amount of the premium do you withhold from the salary? You also determine how the pension provider invests the premium: for each employee separately or for all your employees together.

You also make agreements with the pension fund about how much risk they take when investing. You can take the age of your employees into account, among other things.

Help

Do you need help? Read the information on the website about working on our pension (werken aan ons pensioen, in Dutch), and talk to a pension advisor.

What changes for employees

Due to the new act, pension benefits move with the economy. If the economy is doing well, the pension will increase. If things go less well, the pension will decrease. Measures must prevent pension benefits from falling too quickly.

Your employees receive an overview of the investment results every year. This states what this is expected to mean for the amount of their pension benefit. Pension providers are no longer allowed to make promises about the amount of that benefit in the long term.

Each employee receives their own pension pot, making it easy to see how much pension they have accrued. This should put an end to employees who have multiple pots because they have built up pensions with different employers and providers.

In addition to the pension for your employees, it is also wise to think about your own pension.