Travel allowance remains for those working on campus in 2021

Some employees, such as those working for the ITS Management and the Facility Service Centre, were worried about the university's announcement that travel allowances will no longer be paid from 2021 onwards. They manifested their concerns during a meeting of the Service Council of the University Administrative Service. Many of them can only perform their jobs on campus, such as receptionists, building managers or IT employees working with special programmes.

Luckily, the university's answer brings a sigh of relief for this group: those who cannot work from home will continue to receive a travel allowance. It is yet to be decided, however, how much travel allowance they will be paid and how. Employees will soon hear more about it, said Aletta Huizenga from Human Resources.

Increased travel allowance
Even though most UU employees are working from home since March, everyone continued to receive a travel allowance in 2020. In October 2019, the travel allowance increased from 6 to 10 cents per kilometre, up to a maximum of 50 kilometres a day. The increase was meant to compensate for the planned introduction of paid parking to UU employees at Utrecht Science Park. In the end, the plan to charge for parking spaces was delayed due to problems with the payment system, but employees received the increased allowance anyway.

Allowance for working from home
Those working from home will no longer receive their travel allowance, effective January 1. However, the university decided to grant all employees (including those not working from home) a bonus of 300 euro after taxes, to improve their home office. To receive this allowance, the worker must have a contract with the university -- student assistants, for example, were left out. It is not yet clear whether an allowance for working from home will be introduced in the future. Such decisions depend, of course, on the developments regarding the coronavirus pandemic.