Various schemes are available for employers to facilitate sports and other physical activities for their employees at a favourable rate.
OlymPas
For sports activities the possibilities are endless with the OlymPas.
Discount rate especially for staff
Due to the collaboration between Olympos and several institutions (UU, HU, UMC Utrecht*, Hubrecht Institute/CBS, KHU, UvH), their staff can purchase the OlymPas with an extra discount (category B: € 260 for a year, € 26 for a month).
* Rate category B also applies to partners and retirees of UMC Utrecht staff.
In addition to the favourable rate category B, Utrecht University staff may also benefit from the university ‘Expense Allowance Scheme’ and purchase the OlymPas at an even cheaper rate.
There are different arrangements possible to get the staff of the Utrecht Science Park exercising at a beneficial rate. Interested in such an arrangement? Feel free to stop by to discuss the possibilities. Contact us at info@actiefUSP.nl for more information or to set up a meeting.
Tax regulations
There are also favourable tax regulations that are laid down in the Expense Allowance Scheme (in Dutch: WKR).
Corporate Fitness. How does this work regarding the Tax Office?
If your company applies the Expense Allowance Scheme, it is possible for you to offer your staff a corporate fitness subscription with tax benefits. By purchasing the fitness subscriptions as an employer and then deducting the amount from the employees’ gross salaries, your employees profit from a tax benefit while you save on social security premiums. In this way, the Tax Office tries to encourage Dutch employees to increase their sports participation. This scheme is called the Expense Allowance Scheme.
Expense Allowance Scheme
The Expense Allowance Scheme allows employees to decide on the sports centre of their own choice and claim the expenses with their employer. The employer will herebydeduct the expenses from the employee’s gross salary fostering savings both on the employee’s and the employer’s side.
If the employer ensures that the costs do not exceed the fixed rate, no final tax levy will apply. There also is no need to meticulously break down the costs over the employees. With the coming into force of the Expense Allowance Scheme, the Tax Office has drastically simplified the employer’s administration with regard to expenses and benefits.
For further information, please check the WKR website: http://www.werkkostenregeling-wkr.nl/. Note: this website is only available in Dutch.
Subsidies
ESF Sustainable Employability
The EU and the Dutch government want to keep people working longer and want to enlarge the labor productivity of the working population. For this reason, the subsidy scheme 'ESF Sustainable Employability' has been created, with which employees can receive subsidies for activities that have a positive effect on the internal and/or external labor mobility of employees. Projects that are included in the subsidy scheme can have an impact on measures to improve the health and the vitality of employees, but also their involvement and productivity. Initiatives to strengthen the internal and external labor mobility in order to ensure the attractiveness of the employees, for both the organization as the labor market, are also included. Furthermore, research projects that are focussed on how employees can be actively included in the improvement of the organization of work will also be considered.
More information about applying can be found here. Application will be available from September 2017.
(Note: this website is only available in Dutch)
Sports events
The municipality of Utrecht wants to make sure as many Utrechters as possible do sports. In this way every Utrechter can discover his or her talent and develop it further. Organizations can apply for a subsidy for organizing a professional sports event or a recreational sports event. More information is available here.
(Note: this website is only available in Dutch)