This year on July 1, pension regulations in the Netherlands changed. These new regulations were made by trade unions, employers and the government. Employers must have a pension plan within the new pension system for their employees by January 1, 2028.
The social partners (works councils and employer) ultimately decide on the design of Dow’s future pension plan.
Special pension fund
Dow Pension is different from many other pension funds because no new members will be joining it. In addition, Dow as the employer has committed to the obligation to make additional contributions in case of insufficient coverage of the assets versus the liabilities (and done so several times in the past). That is why there is a good chance that our fund will not move to the new pension system. Under the Future Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen), employers and employees are no longer allowed to make additional contributions to the scheme in order to accrue new pension. Should the fund not transfer to WTP your accrued pension rights with SDPF will not change, neither will the commitments from Dow towards the fund.
We will keep you informed
You will hear from us when the social partners have made a decision on the new pension scheme. We will keep you informed on developments on our website under the news heading. We will also continue to cover the new pension scheme in the PensionUpdate. Would you like to learn more about the new pension scheme? Then scan the QR code for more information and view the timeline on our website.
The new pension regulations
Via www.pensioenduidelijkheid.nl you can find a summary on what pensions are, why there are new regulations, what will remain the same and what is changing. The website was created by trade unions, employer organizations, pension providers and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.