Transfers between time credit schemes made easier

To implement Interprofessional Agreement (IPA) 2009-2010, the National Labour Council adopted a new Collective bargaining agreement (CBA) [1] to accommodate for the change in time-credit regimes as an economy measure.

Previously, transferring a full or part time career break scheme (time-credit) to a part or 1/5th time-credit was only possible after an additional 12 month period of actual employment.

As of now, the new CBA offsets the periods of full or part time credit. This means that these are no longer taken into account when calculating the 12 month employment period requisite. In order to determine whether the conditions are met when applying for a time-credit, employment during the reference period that is prior to the written application for the initial time credit must be taken into account.

Consequently, following the employer’s consent, employees, regardless of their age, who benefit from full or part time-credit can be transferred directly to part or 1/5th time-credit schemes and increase their work performance.

This new regulation has been applied retroactively since 1 January 2009 but still needs to be made official by means of a Royal Decree.