With effect from 1 January 2020, the Labour Market Balancing Act (Wab) will introduce a new system for the WW premium. The sectoral premium differentiation will also be abolished, because many companies no longer belong to a single sector.
The Cabinet wants to encourage employers to offer employees permanent contracts The level of the WW premium will therefore depend on the type of contract. The WW-premium for employers will be lower when an employee is offered a permanent job instead of a temporary contract. The main rule is that the low premium applies to employees with a written employment contract for an indefinite period of time, unless it is an on-call contract. Zero hour contracts and mini-max contracts do not qualify for the low premium.
The following definition is used to establish: ‘written employment contracts for an indefinite period of time that clearly define the scope of the work to be performed’.
To be eligible for the low rate (2.94%), a written contract of employment for an indefinite period of time must therefore have been entered into. A tacit extension is not sufficient to qualify for the low rate. To avoid application of the high rate (7.94%), you can still enter into an employment contract for an indefinite period of time or agree an addendum to the fixed-term employment contract with your employees.
Because this change involves a large administrative burden for employers, employers will have until 1 April 2020 to comply with the abovementioned written requirement for application of the low WW premium (see Kamerbrief dated 9 December 2019). Until then, employers may apply the low premium, as long as they comply with the written requirement on time.
Advice: If you want to be eligible for the low WW premium, you must ensure that a written employment contract or a written addendum is present in the payroll administration as of 1 April 2020 at the latest. This must be signed by both employer and employee. This must show that the employee was already employed for an indefinite period of time before 1 January 2020.
Information
Do you have any questions about this article? Please contact Lisa Kloot on 0031 10 209 27 77 or send an e-mail (kloot@lvh-advocaten.nl).
