Parties, Preamble and Status of the CAO-OI

1. Parties

The Parties to this Collective Labour Agreement are The Employers’ Association of Research Institutes (WVOI), on behalf of the following research institutes:

• The National Library of the Netherlands (KB)
• The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
• The Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I)

and The employee organisations

• AOb
• CNV Onderwijs, part of CNV Connectief
• FNV

The Parties hereby declare that they entered into this Collective Labour Agreement at The Hague on 28 July 2023.

2. Preamble

Research institutes fulfil a prominent role in the Dutch and international knowledge infra-structure. They make an essential contribution to the Dutch and international knowledge-based economy. Academic research and innovation are fundamental to the prosperity and welfare of the Netherlands. Societal challenges and questions are therefore leading for the research institutes. In other to be able to work together to enhance scientific knowledge, they need to be attractive employers for their three thousand employees, now and in the future.

Salary development

• Salaries will increase by 5% with effect from 1 September 2023. In addition, every employee employed on September 1, 2023 will receive a one-off payment of 1,500 euros gross, with this payment being calculated in proportion to the scope of the employment and the number of months that the employee has been employed in the period from 1 January 2023 until 1 September 2023.
• As of 1 January 2024 salaries will increase by a further 2.25%

In accordance with the usual system, the salary increases will also be carried through in pensions and benefits.

Employment contracts

• In the context of good employment practices, parties are committed to offering employees at the research institutes prospects for work and the opportunity to build a career where possible. The collective labor agreement states that, in principle, a labour agreement for an indefinite period is entered into for structural work after the end of an initial fixed-term labour agreement.
• The employment of PhD candidates will be extended by the duration of the maternity leave, (additional) maternity leave and parental leave taken, if the promotion has not been completed within the term of the labour agreement.

Diversity and inclusion
The research institutes want to be organizations where everyone feels at home. Regardless of gender, culture, religion, ethnicity, orientation, gender identity or physical ability. The collective labor agreement already contains provisions that support Diversity, Inclusion and Equality, but also sustainable employability in all phases of life. The new collective labor agreement is now supplemented with agreements about the exchange of three public holidays, leave for the gender transition process, informal care leave with continued payment of the pension premium, paid bereavement leave and saving leave for sabbaticals.

Sustainable employability
In the pension agreement (July 2020), it was agreed that there will no longer be an RVU levy (Early Retirement Scheme) in the event of early retirement for employees. A condition for this is that termination of employment takes place in the last three years before the state pension age. For this purpose, a tailor-made RVU agreement has been included in the collective labor agreement: “Early retirement scheme until December 31, 2025”.

Furthermore, the object ‘Vitality facilities’ has been added to Customized conditions of employment (AVOM).

3. Status of the CAO-OI

The CAO-OI applies a collective labour agreement in the sense of the Collective Agreements Act. This CAO has the status of a standard collective labour agreement from which there can be no derogation, unless this is explicitly allowed by the CAO. The CAO implements article 4.5 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW), insofar as agreed on at sector level. This CAO shall be reported as a standard collective labour agreement to the Health and Safety Inspectorate (DCA) of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.