Terms of employment

Working at Utrecht University means more than a good salary. You benefit from appealing arrangements alongside the standard agreements in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (Dutch name: CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten). Some examples of what you can do via our Terms of Employment Options Model (Dutch name: Keuzemodel Arbeidsvoorwaarden) are buying additional leave, receiving a fiscal benefit on your gym membership or participating in the Bicycle Scheme (Dutch name: fietsregeling).

Salary, pension and health insurance

Salary based on the Collective Labour Agreement You receive a market-based salary in line with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities, with transparent salary scales and clear terms of employment.
Holiday allowance and year-end bonus In addition to your salary, you will receive 8% holiday pay in May and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% in November, calculated based on your gross annual salary
Healthcare-insurance discount and ABP pension You build up your pension through ABP, the General Pension Fund for Public Employees. We pay around two-thirds of the contribution. You also receive a discount on your healthcare insurance via OHRA or Zilveren Kruis, and on other insurances

Vacation/holiday, leave and flexible hours

30 holidays If you are employed on a full-time basis (38 hours per week), you are entitled to 232 hours of leave per year. That is approximately 30 days. If you work part-time, your leave is calculated on a pro rata basis.
Leave arrangements Appealing arrangements: paid maternity leave, partially paid parental leave, care leave and the option to save up leave.
Hybrid working For many positions, hybrid working is possible. You receive a laptop, a mobile phone, a €2.00 per day allowance for working from home and a €25 per month internet allowance.

Terms of Employment Options Model

You can 'trade' a number of terms of employment. For instance, using your holiday allowance to:

Buy a bicycle tax free Once every four years, you can buy a bicycle tax-free for your commute, for example, using your salary or holiday allowance.
Additional leave or sabbatical You can buy additional leave, sell back leave days, or exchange part of your current leave for a longer period at a later date.
Supplementing travel expenses The reimbursement is €0.15 per kilometre, up to 25 km for each single trip. Via the options model, you can supplement this up to €0.25 per kilometre for the full travel distance.

Health and wellbeing

In addition to the terms of employment from the Collective Labour Agreement, we offer you benefits in the field of sports and culture, such as:

Sports discounts Benefit from a membership discount via the Terms of Employment Options Model or exercise at a reduced rate at Sportcentrum Olympos.
Free lunch activities Participate in free lunch activities, such as bootcamps, mindfulness sessions and other sports events.
Culture and leisure Discounts on Parnassos courses. Free entry to the Utrecht Botanic Gardens and the University Museum.

Would you like to know more?

If you do, please see below for more information on leave, allowances or the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

Pre-natal and post-natal maternity leave

In total, you are entitled to 16 weeks of pre-natal and post-natal maternity leave. Four to six weeks of the leave are intended for the pre-natal maternity leave. The date of the start of the pre-natal maternity leave depends of the expected due date. You can start taking out pre-natal maternity leave from six weeks in advance. The post-natal maternity leave lasts at least ten weeks. The actual duration of the leave period depends on the date on which the baby is born.

Parental leave

Besides pre-natal and post-natal maternity leave, there is also the right to parental leave: you take this out before your child is eight years old. The right to parental leave consists of 13 weeks of partially paid leave (70% if the parental leave is taken out in the child's first year of life; 62.5% if the parental leave is taken out in the child's second to eighth year of life) and 13 weeks of unpaid leave.

Birth leave if your partner is giving birth

As a partner, you are entitled to leave too. This concerns the following types of leave:

Post-natal parental leave

You are entitled to the number of days needed at the time of the birth.

Birth leave for partners

Besides the post-natal parental leave, you are entitled to birth leave. This equals the number of hours you work in a week. If you work 32 hours per week, for instance, you are entitled to 32 hours of birth leave. This birth leave can be taken out in the first four weeks starting on the first day after birth. During the birth leave, the salary continues to be paid. You can take out the birth leave consecutively or spread the leave.

Additional birth leave for partners

Besides this, from 1 July 2020 onwards, you as a partner are entitled to additional birth leave of 5 times the number of hours you work in a week (no more than 5 weeks). During the additional birth leave, 70% of your salary is paid by UU.

Care leave

Any staff member whose partner, parents or children are seriously ill and require nursing and/or care at home can receive care leave, of which two working weeks per twelve months are partially paid in all cases.

Paid long-term leave - sabbatical

By participating in the leave-saving arrangement, you can save for full or partially paid long-term leave (sabbatical).