Above inflation rise for civil servants in Netherlands 


Unions and the government of the Netherlands have agreed a pay increase for the country’s 120,000 civil servants, which is significantly above inflation. 


The settlement signed on 13 July provides for a total 7.0% increase over the two-and-a-half years of the deal, which runs from 1 January this year to 30 June 2020. The increase is staged with the first increase of 3.0% paid from 1 July 2018. This is well above inflation, which was 1.7% in June and also higher than average pay increases, which were also 1.7% in the second quarter of the year. 


As well as two further staged payments each of 2.0% in July 2019 and January 2020, there is also a one-off flat-rate payment of €450 in January 2019.


The interior minister Kajsa Ollongren has welcomed the agreement, adding “the government wants to be an attractive employer, and attract and retain good people”.


€1 = 89p on 20 July