Salary
How is your salary calculated?
The company you work for will create a weekly list of the hours you've worked, including any days you couldn't work, such as due to illness, holidays, etc. We always receive this list, known as the "performance statement" on the Monday after your workweek.
Based on this information, we ensure that your salary is deposited. Usually, you'll receive it by the end of the week following your workweek. But if you have a bank account abroad, it may take a bit longer.
What does your pay slip look like?
You'll receive your pay slip weekly. Interpreting a pay slip can be challenging. It contains many numbers, wage codes, and details. We'd like to explain how to better understand your pay slip.
Basic information
At the top of the pay slip, you can find the following information:
- The period the pay slip covers
- Your address details
- The details of the office through which you're employed
Performances and amounts
General info
On the pay slip, you'll first find some details that our payroll office will include in the calculation of your salary. For example, a social subscription, eco vouchers, your own contribution to meal vouchers, etc.
Gross salary
Then you'll first see the salary for normal performances. For permanent employees working as salaried staff, this would normally be a monthly salary. As we pay your salary weekly, like laborers, we convert it to an hourly wage.
This is followed by the salary for paid absences. Such as vacation, holidays, sickness, small leave, etc.And any extra premiums for things like overtime and benefits in kind. All these details together form your "total gross".
Social Security Contributions (RSZ)
Next, our payroll office will calculate the social security contributions. You pay a contribution of 13.07% on your total gross salary.
Are you working as a laborer? Then the calculation is slightly different. For laborers, this is calculated at 108% of their gross salary because the holiday pay is paid by the holiday fund, so employers can't directly withhold RSZ contributions on it.
What are RSZ contributions?
Social security contributions are used to fund all benefits like pensions, unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, etc. This is a legally required contribution.
Taxable salary: the basis for payroll tax
After deducting RSZ contributions, you get your taxable salary on which payroll tax is withheld. In certain cases, a few items can be added to your taxable salary on which you don't have to pay RSZ contributions but do pay taxes. Think, for example, of holiday pay or a company car. For salaried staff, holiday pay is calculated and paid out weekly.
Payroll tax is an advance on your income tax. As a temp agency, we standardly withhold 23%. Depending on your personal situation (family situation, marital status, salary size, etc.), it might be beneficial to increase or decrease this amount. Want to increase the withheld payroll tax? Contact your Vivaldis office. This can prevent you from having to pay a higher tax bill. Every year, Vivaldis provides the well-known form no. 281.10, which you need for your tax declaration. Any overpaid or underpaid payroll tax will be reconciled by the tax authorities in your final tax assessment.
Net salary
After deducting the RSZ contribution and payroll tax, you get your net salary. A few items may still be deducted, such as:
- special RSZ contribution
- personal contribution to company car
- personal contribution to meal vouchers
- benefits in kind for items you use privately: PC, mobile phone, company car
Sometimes you'll also get extra benefits on which you don't pay RSZ or taxes, such as:
- commuting allowance (exempt up to a certain amount per month)
- reimbursed expenses (allowances, parking tickets, restaurant costs, etc.)
This results in your final net salary and the amount that will be deposited into your account.
What does BIK (Benefits in kind) mean?
Benefits in kind are extra perks you get as an employee on top of your regular salary. These can include things like a company car, a mobile phone subscription, and similar in-kind benefits. In other words, these are benefits you receive from your employer, but instead of extra money, you get goods, services, or the right to use certain facilities.
It's important to know that these benefits are counted as taxable income for you as an employee. When calculating income tax, the value of these benefits is added to your taxable income.
How do I calculate my monthly salary if I'm paid weekly?
If you receive your salary every week and want to know approximately how much you earn per month, you can use this simple formula:
Take the amount you earned net in a week where you worked according to your normal work schedule. Multiply this amount by 4.3333 (since there are about 4.3333 weeks in a month on average). The result is your net monthly salary.