She had given the best of herself for forty years. Deborah. No, not the one from “den Aldi”, this concerns a 62 year old primary school teacher. In recent years, things have become more difficult due to a persistent hernia. She was declared ill half-time so that she could still be very useful half-time. And then retirement beckoned… “After 40 years?” You may think… “Isn’t the minimum a career of 42 years?”… yes, but in education every year worked counts for 1.05 years, so you are already there after 40 years. A nice bonus, and rarely mentioned by the educational corps, which prefers to present itself as disadvantaged.
So a visit to the union to find out how retirement works, Deborah thought. At the ACV, where she has been a member for many years. “But madam, why are you retiring?” asked the Trade Unionist. “Because it is possible and because I really can’t handle my work anymore,” Deborah explained. The Trade Unionist looked deep into her eyes and with a sly smile he replied: “You should be declared completely ill. That will work, given your condition.” Deborah frowned. The Trade Unionist continued: “Then you will be paid your entire salary,” he whispered, “And then there is the pension bonus!”. Deborah had already heard about it. If you work longer than required, you will receive a bonus. “But I’m not going to work anymore,” she stammered. The Trade Unionist had meanwhile taken out his calculator. “You get 3,775 euros net in the first year, the second year… 11,325, the third…. 22,650 euros!… and if you have worked for more than 43 years… this can rise to 33,975 euros,” he grinned. “You’re not going to pass that up, are you? We recommend it to everyone; stay sick and get those bonuses! And in education you can easily reach 43 years, with our 1.05 scheme, isn’t that fantastic! We recommend it to everyone, seriously.”
Deborah, the person really has a heart of gold, looked at him in amazement. “But that is not the intention, that bonus is there for those who work longer!” she stammered reluctantly. The Trade Unionist sighed: “Listen, madam, take our former chairman Marc Leemans. He took early retirement. Well, that doesn’t serve that purpose in his case. That smart guy got himself fired on January 1, 2024 – I repeat on January 1, because then the whole of 2024 counts. By us. So you are now in the unemployment with company allowance (SWT) system, the former ‘bridging pension’. That guy wanted to retire and so we arranged it that way. John with the Cap pays the bill. Did you know that our Marc worked for 40 years? And also already 61 years old? Now you”.
Deborah eventually saw the light: “Then he must remain available for the labor market,” she said beaming. “Can’t he take over my job? There is a shortage of teachers and Marc can explain it so well.” The Trade Unionist is indignant. He sighed deeply. Closed your eyes for a moment. And the file.
Afterword: all similarities with a teacher in Schoten are not coincidental. Deborah is a pseudonym. The ACV does not. It stands for: Finding Other People’s Money
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Sources: Click HERE for VRT article. Click HERE for second VRT article.
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Illustration: Pension system abuser Marc Leemans
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