Terms of employment

The Collective Labour Agreement for Research Institutes is the framework for CWI's terms of employment. More general information about working for NWO-I can be found on the NWO-I website.

Regular salary payments are done around the 23th of each month. In addition, in May of each year a holiday allowance is paid (8% of gross annual salary). In December of each year an end-of-year-benefit is paid (8.33% of gross annual salary).

A fulltime working week is 40 hours in practice, but due to reduction of working hours the official working week is 38 hours. To compensate this difference in hours, CWI compensates in additional holiday hours. In total there are 338 holiday hours per year (42 days), which you are supposed to spend during that same year. You are not allowed to bring more than 80 hours into the next year.

CWI pays a compensation for your commuting expenses. The amount of the compensation depends on the distance.

Flexible terms of employment with fiscal benefits: sources (payment) are holiday hours and/or gross salary, purposes are e.g. bike, travel expenses, money for time, etc. In practice this means that you can e.g. get a certain amount of your holiday leave paid out as salary.

Employees with a full-time contract are entitled to 42.25 days of holiday leave per year. There is the possibility to exchange a maximum of 15 days of holiday leave for more salary.

CWI offers a pension scheme via ABP. ABP is the largest pension fund in the Netherlands and the second largest of the world.

Participation in the Dutch Pension fund at ABP is obligatory (pension fund for civil servants. The premium is paid both by employer and employee.

If you are a resident of the Netherlands you are obliged to take out Dutch health insurance to ensure that every person is protected against the financial risks of illness and hospital admission. https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/living/everyday-essentials/medical-care-and-insurance

CWI can offer a collectivity discount if you take an OHRA insurance. You will receive more information after arrival in the Netherlands. OHRA offers assistance in English. Please check their website for more information.

Working conditions (health and safety of employees) are an important issue. We put effort in the prevention of RSI and stress, there is a company doctor, you can get a chair massage, join mindfulness classes, get a discount at the UvA sports center etc.

CWI invests in the personal development of its employees. There are many opportunities to follow courses, through joining classes and training sessions on scientific writing, presentation skills etc.

CWI also has a lively activity committee, run by PhD students. They organize activities all year round. Researchers and trainees are equally welcome to join these activities.

CWI strongly endorses the principle of integrity in academic practice. It is essential that society can have confidence in academic research. More about integrity on the Universities of the Netherlands website.

CWI pays travel and transportation costs for personal belongings when you come from abroad. In addition, CWI pays a one-time "relocation subsidy" of €2,042 net for the employee with a temporary employment contract of two years or more at the start of the contract after the end of the probationary period.

For employees coming from abroad, it is possible to reduce the gross salary as mentioned in the original labour agreement, and get a tax-free reimbursement for extraterritorial expenses in return. The tax-free reimbursement shall at most equal 30% of the taxable remuneration which is part of the original salary. If granted by the tax company, this will have a positive effect on your net income.

Application is only possible if you meet the following conditions:

• You have an employment relationship.
• You have specific expertise that is not or is only barely available on the Dutch employment market or you meet the salary requirements.
• You have a labour agreement with CWI.
• In the 24 months prior to your 1st day of work in the Netherlands you have worked or lived 150 kilometers in a straight line away from the Dutch border.

CWI will prepare the application for the 30% ruling. You will have to refund the immigration fee (legal residence) in case the 30% ruling is granted.

If you have any further questions, please contact the HR-department by email pd@cwi.nl

More information about the terms and more can be found on the website of NWO I