News item | 23-12-2021 | 19:11
In 2022, a number of rules will change in the field of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Below is an overview of those changes.
For the sake of clarity: the changes below were prepared before the presentation of the coalition agreement.
Partly paid parental leave
Employers can submit an application for partially paid parental leave for their employees to UWV from 2 August 2022. At the moment, employees in the Netherlands are not paid for their parental leave hours. Parents will soon receive a UWV benefit amounting to 50% of their daily wage (up to 50% of the maximum daily wage) during 9 weeks of parental leave. The condition is that they include these 9 weeks in the child’s first year of life. This gives parents more time to get used to the new family situation.
Premium AOF
From 1 January 2022, the differentiated premium for the Disability Fund (Aof) will apply. As a result, small employers have less costs for the incapacity for work of employees than large employers. Until now, these amounts have been the same, while the premium places a relatively larger burden on the finances of small employers. An annual amount of 450 million euros is available for small employers. They can use this money to insure themselves properly, for example by taking out the ‘SME Verzuim relief insurance’.
New Civic Integration Act
The new Civic Integration Act will come into effect on 1 January. The idea of the new law is that language and work are the fastest route to participation in society. In the new system, a higher standard applies to the language level than before and asylum migrants combine language lessons with (voluntary) work or internship.
Civic integration scheme
As a result of these changes (which come into effect on 1 January), an asylum migrant who is still subject to the current system can, among other things, submit an application to DUO for partial remission of the loan. This is possible if there is a small term overrun.
In addition, under the current system, persons subject to an integration obligation will receive a refund of the costs for medical advice if they meet the conditions and submit an application for a medical exemption after 1 January 2022.
Increase in minimum wage in the Caribbean Netherlands
The minimum wage and benefits are going up in the Caribbean Netherlands. As of January 1, these will increase by 10% on Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius.
STAP budget
People’s work often changes, so it is important that they continue to develop. In many cases, employees can do this through their employers, but the government also wants to help those who don’t have that option. The STAP budget has been set up for this. Through STAP, every Dutch person receives 1,000 euros per year for training and development. This includes courses, coaching and development advice. The official STAP training register is currently being filled. The website where everything will be found will be online in mid-February.
Early-debt identification pilots
Two pilots will start in January to help people with mortgage arrears and municipal tax debts more quickly. Municipal debt counseling receives a signal if the payment arrears are at least two months and other solutions to the financial problems have not worked, such as a reminder or a payment arrangement. Municipalities are then obliged to make an offer of assistance. At the moment, exchange is already legally possible in the event of arrears in rent, energy, drinking water and healthcare costs. With the test, the mortgage and municipal taxes are now added.
SZW Inspectorate becomes Dutch Labor Inspectorate
The Inspectorate SZW will be called the “Dutch Labor Inspectorate” from 1 January 2022. The arrival of the European regulator, the European Labor Authority, and the fact that the name Labor Inspectorate is more common and more significant in practice have led to this decision.
Foreign Nationals Employment Act
Employees from outside the European Economic Area (EEA: EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland are allowed to work longer in the Netherlands. If it is a permit in which it is checked in advance whether employees can be found in the Netherlands and the EEA, the permit can be granted for a maximum of two years. Employees from outside the EEA are in a better position because the employer has to pay them periodically by bank, among other things. An application can also be rejected as of 1 January 2022 if there are no economic activities at the employer.
state pension
The state pension age will increase by three months in 2022 to 66 years and 7 months.
Works Councils Act
From 1 January, employees will have the right to vote more actively and passively for the works council. Three months after you start working, someone can vote (active suffrage) and stand for election (passive suffrage) in elections to the works council. Previously this was 6 months for active suffrage and 12 months for passive suffrage.
In addition, temporary workers will build up suffrage more quickly in the user company’s company. From 1 January, a temporary agency worker will have the right to vote and stand for election after 18 months.