A new pension agreement was needed as the previous agreement expired as of January 1, 2021. The labor unions and the employer held negotiations and reached agreement on the new pension agreement.
The pension agreement has a two-year term and runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022, with the option of a one-year extension if the labor unions and employer desire this.
The purchase of your pension has become more expensive but the money that is set aside for your pension every month remains the same. This means that you will accrue less retirement pension in 2021.
Your employer sets a part of your salary aside for your pension every month. That part and a supplement from the employer together form the pension contribution. DSM agreed with the labor unions that the pension contributions would remain the same, namely at 24%. Your employer pays the largest contribution to this 24%.
The pension contribution is paid to the pension fund after which the amount of pension that can be purchased for this is determined. Pensions are becoming increasingly expensive. Various factors are involved that we are unable to influence, but that do determine the pension cost price. This concerns, for example, the low interest and high buffers that we need to retain. As pension fund we have no influence over this. You can read more about this on Pension 1-2-3 under: How secure is your pension?
In 2021 you will accrue 1.4% retirement pension instead of 1.738%. We do not yet know what your accrual rate in 2022 will be. This depends on the interest rate at the end of 2021, which determines your pension cost price.
If you have an annual salary of €50,000 gross, you will accrue around €120 less retirement pension. If you have an annual salary of €80,000 gross, you will accrue around €216 less. The Uniform Pension Statement (UPS) that you receive this year will clarify what the lower pension accrual will mean for your pension when calculated through to your State Pension Age (AOW age).
The state pension age remains unchanged at 67. We use 67 years as the age on which you will start receiving the retirement pension that you accrue at PDN. If you retire earlier, your retirement pension will be lower because your pension will start earlier and will need to be paid to you for longer.
Like the accrual of retirement pension, the accrual of the partner’s pension has also been reduced, from 1.3125% to 1.1% per annum.
However, the risk coverage of the partner’s pension has not changed. Should you die, as employee, we will calculate the partner’s pension as though you would have stayed in employment until your state pension age (AOW age). The accrual of this partner's pension remains at 1.3125% per annum.
The accrual of the temporary partner’s pension (payment up to your partner’s state pension age [AOW age]) has been reduced from 0.2625% to 0.22% per annum.
The risk coverage of the temporary partner’s pension has not changed. Should you die, as an employee, we will calculate the temporary partner’s pension as though you would have stayed in employment until your state pension age (AOW age). The accrual of this temporary partner's pension remains at 0.2625% per annum.
The supplementary partner’s pension (payment until your partner reaches state pension age (AOW age)) does not change and remains at a maximum of €15,986 gross per annum (for 2021). The supplemental partner's pension is meant to compensate for your partner not yet receiving the state retirement pension (AOW).
The accrual of orphan’s pension remains unchanged at 0.2625% per annum.
The risk coverage of the orphan’s pension has not changed. Should you die, as a member, we will calculate the orphan’s pension as though you would have stayed in employment until your state pension age (AOW age). The accrual of this orphan’s pension remains at 0.2625% per annum.
If you are disabled or partially disabled you will continue to accrue (non-contributory) pension. DSM and the labor unions have agreed that this will take place under the same agreements that apply to employees. This means the same reduction of the annual accrual of the retirement pension, partner’s pension, and temporary partner’s pension. For you, the supplementary partner’s pension also does not change and remains at a maximum €15,986 gross per annum.
If you receive a statutory disability pension, the duration and level of that pension will not change.
The possibilities for part-time pension starting within five years of the State Pension Age (AOW age) have been expanded. Are you due to receive state pension (AOW) within five years and do you want to retire part-time? The pension that you decide to have paid out no longer needs to be related to the percentage that you work part-time. It used to be the case that if you worked 20% fewer hours, you could have up to 20% of your accrued pension paid to you. From 2021, in this example, you could also have more than 20% paid to you.
This year the labor unions and the employer will be examining when they can align the pension scheme with the new Dutch pension system. The final legislation for this new system is expected to be complete in 2022 and we need to wait for this. The situation will be entirely different under this new pension system and will mean a transition to a different type of pension scheme.
It is still uncertain when the transition to the new pension system will take place. The aim is for this to happen quickly, but we are dependent on the finalization of legislation, after which the labor unions, employer and pension fund still have a lot of work to do to make this transition. As the current pension agreement had expired, a new agreement was needed prior to January 1, 2021.