The STAP budget
From 1 maart 2022 it will become easier for workers and jobseekers to brush up on their knowledge. With the STAP-budget they receive a subsidy prior to their course instead of a reimbursement afterwards. The cabinet hopes that more people will now choose a course. It also provides advantages for employers: courses contribute to the sustainable employability of employees.
The STAP budget is separate from the targeted exemption that employers themselves have when it comes to pursuing a course or study aimed at fulfilling an occupation in the future. When an employer reimburses the study costs, the employee cannot claim the STAP budget. Employed persons and job seekers can submit an application to UWV from March. For taking a course, a budget of up to 1,000 euros per person per year is available.
Reimbursement of home office expenses
Since the start of the crisis a large part of the working population has switched to working from home or a hybrid work model. Working from home affects the expenses of both employees and employers. Think, for example, of travel costs, the company lunch, to the furnishing of a home workspace. The cabinet assumed a temporary situation and allowed employers in certain cases to continue paying tax-free reimbursements, but this created a difference in compensation for home-working costs for employees.
From 1 januari 2022, employers may reimburse certain work-from-home expenses tax-free. This concerns an amount of up to 2 euros per day. Important to remember: for the costs of workplace equipment, for example the purchase of a desk or laptop, a targeted exemption already exists. These costs are not covered by the work-from-home allowance. In addition, the tax-free commuting allowance for travel between home and work remains. This concerns up to €0.19 per kilometer. As an employer you may apply only one allowance: either the work-from-home allowance or the commuting allowance.
Paid parental leave
For years the right to parental leave was a right in the form of unpaid leave. Due to new European legislation the Netherlands is obliged to introduce a paid variant of parental leave. As of 2 augustus 2022 it becomes paid parental leave introduced for both parents. Parents are given the opportunity to take nine weeks of paid leave to bond with the newborn child. The time can, moreover, be divided between partners. For a more equal distribution between work and care, parents receive from UWV a benefit of 50 percent of their daily wage for the first nine weeks (up to 50 percent of the maximum daily wage).
Overtime measure
It forms an important part of the Balanced Labour Market Act (WAB):
the WW premium differentiation
. For permanent contracts employers pay a low WW premium and a higher premium for flexible contracts. For employers, permanent contracts are more attractive. Under the WAB an employer must retroactively pay the premium if an employee has worked more than 30 percent or more in hours in a calendar year. This provision was temporarily suspended by the cabinet during the corona crisis because many part-timers, particularly in the healthcare sector, were forced to work more than 30 percent extra. From 1 januari 2022 the 30 percent test applies again to all employers.
End of transitional provisions
Act on working after the AOW-eligible age Older employees who want to continue working after their retirement have since 2016 been supported by the Act on working after the AOW-eligible age. In 2016 a transitional arrangement was also agreed to prevent AOW-eligible older workers – but not yet pensioners – from being displaced from the labour market. In 2022 the transitional arrangement ends, but the House of Representatives still has to approve the draft decision.
After approval of the draft decision means that the rights van zieke AOW-gerechtigde werknemers worden versoberd: de loondoorbetalingsperiode bij ziekte wordt verkort van dertien naar zes weken. En dit geldt eveneens voor de duur van het opzegverbod bij ziekte, de re-integratieverplichtingen en het recht op een Ziektewetuitkering.
