4% salary increase, one-off gross lump sum payment of €400, study into teachers’ career prospects and improvement of parental leave scheme

On 12 May, the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (UNL) and the trade unions reached a negotiation settlement on the 2022-2023 Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). The parties to the CAO-NU have agreed a 4% salary increase for all university employees with effect from 1 July 2022. In addition, they will receive a one-off gross lump sum payment pro rata to their contractual working hours (€400 gross in the case of full-time employment). Employees who receive the minimum hourly wage for the university sector will likewise receive a one-off gross lump sum payment under the same conditions (€750
gross in the case of full-time employment).

Agreement on study into career prospects of teachers
In September 2022, the universities and the trade unions will start a joint study to determine how the contractual position of teachers can be improved in the coming collective labour agreement period. The study will focus particularly on the possibilities for offering a larger number of permanent contracts. The outcomes of this study will serve as input for the next collective labour agreement. Marcel Nollen, Vice President of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and chief negotiator on behalf of UNL: “The universities and the trade unions recognise the need for clear career prospects for teachers, to do justice to their contributions to the universities. Good employership is the top priority in this respect.”

Improvement of parental leave scheme
The parental leave scheme will be improved with effect from 1 August 2022. This includes an increase of the amount paid in parental leave during the first year of the child’s life to 70% of the employee’s wage. In addition, the provision that an employee is only entitled to parental leave on partial pay after having been employed for one year will cease to apply. Lastly, the repayment scheme will cease to apply.

The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) will run from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 and apply to over 57,000 employees in the university sector. You can read the text of the negotiation settlement here. The parties to the CAO-NU will present the negotiation settlement to the parties they represent and strive to reach a definitive collective labour agreement by 9 June at the latest.