Unemployment insurance premium by contract type
With the Work and Security Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, the government aims to make permanent contracts more attractive for employers compared to flexible contracts. Therefore, this law stipulates that employers pay a lower unemployment insurance premium for an employee with a permanent contract than for an employee with a flexible contract.
The high unemployment insurance premium is 5% higher than the low unemployment insurance premium. For 2020, the premiums have already been established:
- Low: 2.94%
- High: 7.94%
Condition: a written employment contract for an indefinite period
In the context of the low premium, a permanent contract is defined as ‘a written employment contract for an indefinite period, provided there is no on-call contract’. Additionally, the employment contract must clearly specify the scope of work to be performed. Zero-hour contracts therefore also do not fall under this definition, as they do not establish the scope of work to be performed. The high premium can also be levied retroactively, so termination of a permanent contract within the probationary period also does not result in a lower premium.
Payroll administration and pay slip
The government wants to monitor unemployment insurance premium differentiation by requiring employers to include a copy of the employment contract for an indefinite period in the payroll administration of employees for whom they pay a low premium. Additionally, the Work and Security Act requires the employer to state on the pay slip whether there is a written employment contract for an indefinite period and whether or not there is an on-call contract.
If no written employment contract for an indefinite period has been concluded, then the conditions for the low unemployment insurance premium are not met. The employer is then liable for the high unemployment insurance premium. When a written employment contract for a definite period has been concluded, which has been converted by operation of law into an employment contract for an indefinite period – without the written contract being adapted to the new situation – then the employer is also liable for the high unemployment insurance premium.
Check the personnel file
It is therefore important that employers timely adjust their payroll administration and review all employees to check whether there is a copy of a written employment contract for an indefinite period in the personnel file. In this way, inspection by the Tax Authority can be carried out. It is also useful for employers to examine which flexible contracts can be replaced by a permanent contract and what this yields financially for the employer.
Tip: watch out for overtime!
To prevent small, permanent contracts from being used to mask (for example) full-time on-call work, the rule applies that the high unemployment insurance premium still applies if an employee has 30% or more paid hours in a calendar year than the agreed work scope. The premium is then revised retroactively.
