Reduce work

More free time, less work

There can be plenty of reasons for you to reduce your number of working hours. You might simply want to have more free time. You must realise, though, that your pension accrual is linked to your salary. The less you work, the lower your salary and your pension will be.

Various options

As an NN/NN IP employee, there are several ways for you to reduce your working hours:

1. Work on a part-time basis.
2. Retire on a part-time basis.
3. Retire early.
4. Take leave of absence, paid or unpaid.

1. Work on a part-time basis

If you want to reduce your working hours by, say, 50%, you must make the necessary arrangements with your manager, who in turn will inform NN CDC Pensioenfonds. As a result of your decision, your salary will be lower and you will build up less old-age pension, partner pension and orphans’ pension.

2. Retire on a part-time basis

The standard pensionable age is 68. However, as from the day you turn 60, you can opt for early retirement on a part-time basis. For example, you could continue to work on a 50% basis and have your pension paid out for the other 50%. However, you must realise that your decision will have the following implications:

• Your income will be lower.
• You will build up less pension, because you will partly stop working.
• Your monthly pension benefits will be lower, because your pension starts earlier.
  

What you need to do
If you opt for part-time pension, you must report this to your employer and to NN CDC Pensioenfonds at least four months before the starting date of your part-time pension. Use this form (Dutch only).

Before making your decision, it is advisable to check when your state old-age pension (AOW) will start and what consequences your decision will have for your partner’s and orphans’ pension.

3. Retire early

The standard pensionable age is 68. However, as from the day you turn 60, you can opt for early retirement.
You must realise that your decision will cause your pensionable income to decrease, because:

• You will build up less pension, because you will stop working earlier.
• The pension you built up will need to cover more years. 
• You will not yet receive state old-age pension (AOW).
• Retiring early will also result in less partner pension accrual.

What you need to do
If you opt for early retirement, you must inform your manager of this. Of course, you must make agreements with NN/NN IP as to if and when you can retire early. You must report this to your employer and to NN CDC Pensioenfonds at least four months before the date you wish to retire. Before making your decision, it is advisable to check when your state old-age pension (AOW) will start.

4. Take leave of absence, paid or unpaid

As an NN/NN IP employee, there are several ways in which you can take leave of absence (paid or unpaid):

1. Take up vacation days.
2. Take up unpaid leave.
3. Take up pregnancy leave.
4. Take a sabbatical.
5. Work on a part-time basis.
6. Retire on a part-time basis.

A. Take up vacation days 
You are entitled to a certain number of vacation days each year. Taking up this type of leave will not affect your pension.

B. Take up unpaid leave 
If you want to work fewer hours for a while, you can take up unpaid leave.  You might, for instance, want to spend more time with your children (parental leave) or you might want to care for a family member. You might even want to take a sabbatical.

As long as you continue to pay your share of the pension contribution (participant’s contribution), your pension accrual will remain the same until your leave adds up to 13 times your personal weekly working hours.  

After that point, your pension accrual stops. 

If you pass away during the first 18 months of your leave, your partner will be entitled to partner pension and your children to orphans’ pension as if you were still employed. You will also retain the right to full or partial continuation of your pension accrual should you become fully or partially incapacitated for work during your leave.

Important: if your leave is longer than 18 months, partner pension and orphans’ pension that you have built up until then will be retained and paid out to your partner and children if you pass away. 

After those 18 months, you lose your right to full or partial continuation of your pension accrual should you become fully or partially incapacitated for work during your leave.

If you choose to take up unpaid leave, you and your employer must agree on when and how long your leave will be. Your employer will report this to NN CDC Pensioenfonds.

C. Take up pregnancy leave
You may stop working temporarily to have a baby. During your pregnancy leave, you will receive your salary every month as usual. Your pension accrual will also be continued while you are on pregnancy leave. You don’t need to take any action.

D. Take a sabbatical 
If you’ve saved money in a life cycle savings account, you can use this to take a sabbatical. You may want to make a long journey or write a book. During the first 13 weeks of your sabbatical leave, you will continue to build up pension in NN CDC Pensioenfonds, provided you continue paying your share of the contribution. After that, your pension accrual will be temporarily cancelled.

If you should pass away during the first 18 months of your leave, your partner will be entitled to partner pension and your children will be entitled to orphans’ pension, based on the pension you would have built up until your pensionable age. You will also retain your right to continuation of your pension accrual should you become fully or partly incapacitated for work.

If your leave is longer than 18 months, you will no longer build up partner pension for your partner or orphans’ pension for your children. Partner pension and orphans’ pension that you have built up until then will be retained and paid out to your surviving dependants when you pass away. You will also lose your right to continuation of your pension accrual should you become fully or partly incapacitated for work during your leave.

If you choose to take up sabbatical leave, you and your employer must agree on when and how long your leave will be. Your employer will report this to NN CDC Pensioenfonds.