Better paid than a minister

Tekst arno kersten - redactie onderwijsblad - 16 november 2017 - 3 Minuten om te lezen

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That 179 thousand euros, including expenses and pension premium, was the legal upper limit last year. All these top salaries are tolerated. Because the contracts were established before the law existed, they come under a transitional arrangement. Most of the top earners are at the helm of major educational institutions, but not all, as shown an inventory from the Education magazine.

Upper limit

Since 2013, the government has limited the remuneration of school administrators in three steps with the Standards of Top Income (Wnt) Act. The first wnt maximum for mbo and hbo was set in 2013 at 198 thousand euros. In 2015, the upper limit dropped by twenty grand, according to the current ministerial wage standard.

New drivers must immediately adhere to the standard. Different rules apply to the 'old guard'. Fiddling with existing salary agreements is not just possible. That is why the cabinet decided at the time that top officials should first be allowed to keep their remuneration for four years. Then they have to hand in their salary step by step.

Institutional standard

Last year, the government took the third step in curbing board benefits. On January 1, 2016 is a complete salary ladder implemented. This applies to all educational institutions, from the smallest primary school to the largest university.

Directors of the smallest institutions may earn a maximum of 106 thousand euros. That ladder rises to 179 thousand euros at the top. Even at smaller and medium-sized schools, quite a few administrators are still earning above their means, according to an inventory based on the annual reports. Again, a transitional arrangement applies here.

Source: Annual reports 2016

AObdirector Douwe van der Zweep: "It's good to see that the number of top earners is decreasing at the top, but it could be a bit faster. The AOb has always championed clearly defined legal limits for executive compensation. Thanks to the new remuneration ladder, top officials at smaller institutions are no longer allowed to earn above their means. It is frustrating that it can take years to get there due to transitional law."

Next month, the Minister of the Interior will send an annual overview of the top income law in education and other semi-public sectors to the Lower House.

Read the entire article here.

Source: Annual reports 2016 | * Two board members of the AUAS / UvA combi-board were employed by AUAS