Supplementary collective labour agreement
The supplementary collective agreement for central government staff posted abroad (ACRU) applies to you if you have an employment contract with the state of the Netherlands, fall under the collective labour agreement (CAO) for central government staff and are posted to a Dutch representation abroad for a period of three months or more. You will incur extra costs in connection with your posting abroad and the ACRU sets out to what extent these costs are covered.
On our website you can find information about the ACRU in Dutch.
Does the ACRU apply to me?
The ACRU applies to all staff, including attachés and seconded staff, who are posted to a Dutch representation abroad.
It does not apply to staff posted to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom or an international organisation, nor does it apply to civilian experts, election observers or local employees. For these groups other regulations apply.
For attachés and seconded staff who are posted abroad under the ACRU, the agreements laid down in the policy memorandum on attachés also apply. This means an attaché or seconded staff member may be entitled to certain allowances under the ACRU only partially or not all.
Explanatory note
The ACRU provides for various allowances to which you, as a staff member, may be entitled depending on your personal situation. Some allowances are paid out automatically, but you will have to apply to 3W for others. Certain allowances are linked to specific jobs or duty stations. For more information on individual allowances, see the full text of the ACRU.
3W pays the monthly foreign posting allowance and processes incidental expense claims and allowances under the ACRU. If you would like personalised information about the allowances or other provisions under the ACRU, you can of course request an individual information meeting with 3W.
If you have a BZ account, you can apply for ACRU allowances via SSP. Your application or question will be sent straight to the right 3W staff member and will be processed quickly. You will find a link to the relevant SSP form on the pages where the allowances are described.
If you do not yet have a BZ account (because you are an attaché and have not yet started work at the mission), you can apply for allowances via your customer liaison.
How does 3W know I am entitled to allowances?
When a placement decision is drawn up for a member of BZ staff, 3W receives a copy. 3W in turn informs the removal company and other relevant parties about your upcoming posting. If you are being posted abroad by another ministry or organisation that uses 3W’s services, the customer liaison at your organisation will inform 3W, using the SSP form designed for this purpose. This will ensure that 3W receives all the necessary information about your posting. The 3W service desk will contact you as soon as possible after you have been registered to schedule an individual information meeting.
When will I receive the allowances?
As soon as you arrive at the mission and start work there, you must notify 3W of your arrival via the applicable SSP form (Vertrek en aankomst meldingen).
3W will use the information provided via this form to calculate your fixed foreign posting allowance. The date on which you actually start work at the mission is the starting date for the foreign posting allowance. The allowance is paid out via P-Direkt. If your organisation does not use P-Direkt, the allowance will be paid out via your own organisation’s accounts department. Each month 3W will send you a breakdown of the foreign posting allowance you have received.
When your posting ends, use the same form to notify 3W of your departure.
If your partner, child or children arrive at your duty station after you or leave before you, this will affect the amount you receive. To register their arrival or departure use the applicable SSP form (Tussentijds vertrek of aankomst partner/kind).
Notify 3W of any changes to your situation as soon as possible to avoid having to repay any unduly paid allowances.
Conditions
BZ staff are responsible for notifying 3W in good time of changes to their situation.
Staff from other ministries are responsible, together with their customer liaison, for the correct and complete submission of source documents and for notifying 3W in good time of changes to their situation. The customer liaison must register a new attaché with 3W at least nine weeks before they start work at the mission.
Questions
BZ staff are responsible for notifying 3W in good time of changes to their situation.
Staff from other ministries are responsible, together with their customer liaison, for the correct and complete submission of source documents and for notifying 3W in good time of changes to their situation. The customer liaison must register a new attaché with 3W at least nine weeks before they start work at the mission.
Processing time
If your arrival notification is received in the first week of the month, you will – in principle – start receiving the foreign posting allowance that same month. If, for whatever reason, your arrival notification cannot be processed in time, you will receive the foreign posting allowance for the first month together with the allowance for the next month.
More information
The full text of the ACRU is available in Dutch.