If you work as a top official or top official supervisor in the public or semi-public sector, you will fall under the Top Income Standards Act (so-called Wet normering topinkomens, ‘WNT’). The WNT maximizes what you may earn or agree on as severance pay as a top official or as a top supervisory official.
Maximum remuneration
The new standards are set annually. For 2022, € 216,000 (including taxed expense allowances and employer's pension contribution) applies as the general maximum remuneration. For various sectors, such as education, health care, housing corporations and cultural funds, lower pay ceilings apply. For health insurers a different remuneration maximum applies.
The severance payment, which may be mutually agreed, is limited to € 75,000 if you work full-time. The remuneration must be disclosed every year, as well as any severance pay. The remuneration of non-top officials is not standardized, but there is an obligation to disclose if it exceeds the general remuneration maximum.
Complex legislation
The WNT and the regulations based on it are complex and dynamic: changes take place regularly and it is therefore important to keep well informed.
The WNT is aimed at preventing and sanctioning constructions that can circumvent the law. When entering into, changing or terminating an employment contract or official appointment, it is therefore important that you seek advice in advance about the implications of the agreements that you and your (government) employer wish to agree on. If it turns out that the agreements are not legally valid, this can have far-reaching consequences and what was wrongly paid too much will then be reclaimed from the top official.