Employees at the UMC Utrecht fall within the scope of the collective labor agreement for university medical centers (CAO UMC). We also have a number of special schemes and facilities, offering an attractive and extensive package of terms of employment and options. A brief description of what they entail is provided below.
Income and insurance
In addition to your monthly salary and an annual vacation allowance which amounts to 8% of your annual salary, the UMC Utrecht gives its employees an end-of-year bonus of 8,3%. If you work irregular hours, you will receive an appropriate bonus (47% or 72%). With regard to the life course savings scheme, the UMC Utrecht pays an employer contribution of 1.05% of your salary toward that plan. This applies even if you do not participate in the life course savings scheme.
Pension
One aspect which is not immediately visible – but is important – is a good pension plan. Our pension plan is handled by 'ABP', the largest pension fund in the Netherlands. As an employer, we pay 70% of the premium.
Health insurance
The UMC Health Insurance offers good health insurance and supplementary packages at a competitive price. Both unions and employers can influence the price and specific contents of the package via the board of the health insurance company.
Other insurance policies
Discounts are available from 'Centraal Beheer' and 'OHRA' on other forms of insurance, such as a car, travel, home or fire and theft insurance policy. These insurance companies also offer you extra benefits on mortgages and investments.
Travel costs
The UMC Utrecht has a standard allowance to cover the costs of commuting between home and work of € 0,05 per kilometer. The ‘employment terms menu’, known as the ‘CAO à la carte’, makes it possible for you to supplement this allowance up to the maximum tax-free amount of € 0.19 per kilometer (2007).
If you travel to work by bicycle, the ‘CAO à la carte’ makes it possible for you to declare a large percentage of the purchase price of your bicycle in exchange for gross income. This gross/net exchange also offers tax benefits. Calculate your tax benefit by multiplying the tax rate by the cost price of your bicycle.
If you travel to work by public transportation, discounts are available on public transport passes. As a large-scale consumer, we have negotiated collective discounts with 'Connexxion' bus company.
Car owners have options for discounts on gas and car insurance – even if you don’t use your car to commute to work.
Employment terms menu – CAO ‘à la carte’
Besides the travel costs and bicycle scheme, our ‘employment terms menu’ makes it possible for you to trade gross income for time, salary savings scheme or memberships in unions and professional associations.
Combining work and private life
Achieving a good balance between work and private life is something we see as important for our employees. That is why we offer schemes that help you find a healthy balance.
Flexible working hours and employment contracts
A fulltime position at the UMC Utrecht means that you work an average of 36 hours each week. If you want to work part-time, that is usually possible in most cases. The UMC Utrecht uses an annual hours system. This means that you discuss with your manager how you would like to distribute the number of working hours across the year, within the limits dictated by your job.
In consultation with your manager, it is possible for a full-time employee to work more or less on a temporary basis. Hours of overtime are paid based on overtime declarations, or you can save them up to use for extra leave. If you prefer not to be restricted to a set number of hours (or a specific department), it is possible to work on an on-call basis.
The UMC Utrecht also has a blended form of employment. In this option, you agree to a combination of a set minimum number of hours and an unspecified number of additional hours on an on-call basis. This is known as the ‘plus-minus’ ‘min-plus’ or ‘min-max’ contract. Some departments also offer a ‘parent contract’, in which the department offers work hours during the framework of the standard school day.
Leave
As a full-time employee at the UMC Utrecht, you are entitled to approximately 21 vacation days per year (169 hours). Plus 6 to 9 official hollidays per year. It goes without saying that we also provide the forms of leave that are required by law, such as parental leave and emergency care leave.
Our collective labor agreement (CAO) also makes provisions for (paid) leave for certain personal circumstances. Situations may also arise in which you might want to make agreements with your manager to arrange extra (unpaid) leave. If you would like to take unpaid leave for a longer period of time, you may want to consider participating in our collective life course savings scheme.
Childcare
As of 2007, the UMC Utrecht no longer has its own childcare plan. You receive the employer’s contribution via a tax stipend. We do have our own childcare facility, which is located ‘around the corner’ in a lovely, renovated farmhouse. It can accommodate a maximum of 100 children aged 0-4.
Career opportunities
We have various ways of focusing on your performance, development and career opportunities. You will discuss your results and your preferences with your manager at least twice a year. Our Career Center also offers career guidance counseling and gives specific training courses. In the interest of facilitating internal promotions, job openings are initially made available only to our own staff.
Extra benefits
‘Caring for people’ is another core value at the UMC Utrecht. We believe that it is just as important to take good care of our employees. That is why we offer additional benefits, for example in UMC!UIT.
A Company Cultural Subscription offers discounts on theater, concert and performance tickets. After work, you can stay in shape by working out in our own gym or going to the Olympos Sports Complex, diagonally across from the UMC Utrecht. Olympos offers some 60 sports to UMC Utrecht staff at a 40% discount off the normal rate. Besides UMC!UIT, the Leisure Association at the UMC Utrecht organizes various activities, such as deep-sea fishing and weekend trips to foreign cities.
The UMC Utrecht also has a ‘Personnel Fund’. This is a fund financed by and instituted on behalf of employees. It is intended to offer employees financial support under favorable terms.
The UMC Utrecht is able to offer housing options for certain groups of employees, such as first-year student nurses, trainees and (foreign) doctors.
The UMC Utrecht also offers a wide range of facilities in the hospital to make your workday more enjoyable. This includes the Utrecht Medical Library, a company restaurant with outdoor seating area, various coffee corners, a flower shop and gift shops. Other services offered at the UMC Utrecht include passport photo facilities, a hairdresser and an ATM.
UMC Collective Labor Agreement
The full text of our UMC collective labor agreement is available at
http://www.nfu.nl. This is the website of the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU), the UMC employers’ organization.