Possibility to postpone the payment of pension contributions for employers

Deferral of pension premium

Pension providers will compensate employers who are or have come into immediate problems as a result of the corona crisis as much as possible if they experience problems when paying the pension contributions without affecting the rights of employees. The Labor Foundation and the organizations of pension providers, the Pension Federation and the Dutch Association of Insurers have agreed this.

There are several ways to delay the collection of pension contributions; the scale of the problems differs per sector. An employer can make a payment arrangement with his pension provider, funds and insurers can be more lenient with claiming overdue premiums, or the payment term can be extended for an entire sector.

For employers, the pension contribution is a large part of the wage costs. Usually it is about 20 to 25 percent of what an employee earns. For the time being, this only concerns postponement of premium payment. The accrual of employee pension rights continues.

Entrepreneurs who have immediate problems with paying their pension contributions are advised to consult the website of their pension provider and, if necessary, contact their pension fund, insurer, premium pension institution or their financial adviser.

The proposed measures can take effect quickly, in part also in anticipation of the “temporary emergency measure bridging work retention” announced by the government. This emergency measure, which is yet to be implemented, is largely intended to compensate employers with problems in wage costs. This is also expected to include a contribution for the pension contributions to be paid by the employer.