It is important to agree clear arrangements with your manager and co-workers in advance if you are working from home. You are entitled to a working from home allowance on the working days that you are not working at VU Amsterdam.

What is the amount of the working from home allowance and how is it calculated? The working from home allowance amounts to €2 and, like the commuting allowance, is calculated on the basis of it being a fixed allowance. This is made possible by adhering to the official Tax and Customs Administration calculation, which assumes a maximum of 214 working days per year. This means that if you are employed the entire calendar year and you work five days a week, you receive an allowance over a maximum of 214 days on an annual basis. That can be a combination in the form of a commuting allowance and a working from home allowance, or a working from home allowance on its own or a commuting allowance on its own.

The maximum monthly working from home allowance in the case of five days working from home per week is 214 working days per year x €2 working from home allowance / 12 months = € 35.67. If you work fewer than five days a week, the allowance will be calculated proportionally.

The system of 214 working days therefore assumes an average commuting and working from home pattern throughout a year. This means that holidays, leave, public holidays, etc. have already been factored in. The advantage of this system is that you only need to enter your travel pattern once and there is no need to update it if you take holidays or other leave, for example. Action is only required in case of a structural change in your commuting and/or working pattern.

What should I do in case of illness, leave or official travel? You do not need to do anything in case of illness, leave or official travel. The manner in which the working from home allowance is calculated (see above) means that the commuting allowance continues to be paid during illness and leave or when undertaking official travel. Please note that the allowance will be stopped in case of absence due to official travel, leave or illness lasting more than six weeks.

When will the working from home allowance be paid? In the current month. So, the working from home allowance for September, for example, will be paid with the salary for September.

I work half a day from home and half a day at VU Amsterdam; does this mean I get half a day working from home allowance? No, the working from home allowance is only paid on the days you do not travel to VU Amsterdam. You will receive a commuting allowance for the days that you travel to VU Amsterdam. There is no entitlement to a working from home allowance for these days, therefore.

What should I do if my work schedule changes? If your work schedule changes resulting in a structural change in your expected commuting and/or work pattern, you should update your schedule and working days in the service portal accordingly. The same goes for your commuting statement. The working from home allowance is then automatically calculated anew.  

I do not receive a working from home allowance. Why is that? The Collective Labour Agreement sets out that student teaching assistants, stand-by employees (with an MUP contract) and trainees are excluded from the working from home allowance. If you fall in one of these groups, that is the reason you do not receive a working from home allowance.

Does the number of commuting days affect my working from home allowance? Yes, the number of commuting days per week affects the amount of working from home allowance. The working from home allowance is calculated by deducting the commuting days entered in the commuting statement from your working days, as registered in the service portal.

Does the number of days I spend commuting and/or working from home affect the internet allowance? No, the internet allowance is separate from commuting days and work-from-home days; as a result, neither have any effect on its amount. The internet allowance is also paid to you if you travel to VU Amsterdam every working day, provided that you are entitled to the allowance under the Collective Labour Agreement.