Forward pension is set to change

At the end of May 2023, the Upper House of the Dutch Parliament – following the Lower House – approved the new Dutch Pensions Act. This Act came into force on 1 July last year. As a result, the way in which you accrue pension at Forward will change. Both the accrued Forward pensions as the payable Forward pensions will switch over to a new scheme.

The basic assumption for Progress – the other part of the Unilever Pension Fund – is that this scheme will not change.

It is now up to Unilever and the trade unions
By law, the ‘social partners’ – Unilever and the FNV and CNV trade unions – must reach agreement on what the new Forward scheme will look like on ultimately 1 January 2025. Their decisions will include what type of scheme it will be. There are two kinds of defined contribution schemes possible: in one of the schemes, the pension fund makes all the investment choices for the member. In the other scheme, you have the possibility to choose your own investment profile available within your pension scheme.

The social partners will also make agreements about what happens to either the accrued and the payable pensions.

You cannot object to the agreements between Unilever and the trade unions; you are obliged to go along with the scheme they agree. This is laid down in the legislation.

Roles of Unilever Pension Fund and Accountability Board
Once Unilever and the trade unions have reached agreement, the Unilever Pension Fund will start by checking that the agreed scheme is both feasible and well-balanced for all groups of members. The Forward Accountability Board (‘Verantwoordingsorgaan’ in Dutch) will submit an opinion about this.

Following a positive conclusion, we will implement the new scheme in our administration systems and communication. By law, this process must be completed on ultimately 1 January 2028. This may seem a long way off, but the radical changes mean there is much to be done. This is why we are making preparations in anticipation of the agreement between the social partners.  

Q&A on the new system
There are many questions about what the new scheme means for your pension that we will not be able to answer until the scheme is (nearly) in existence. Click on the following questions for the answers we can give now:

Q&A: Much is about to change, but what is not actually changing?

Q&A: Why are we having new pension rules anyway?

Q&A: My pension is going to develop more in parallel with the economy. What does this mean?

 

April 2024