Mandatory pension fund: does your company fall under an industry-wide pension fund?

This article is about the Netherlands and is written for management, HR and finance at small and medium-sized companies. In my practice I often see it go wrong late: during a takeover, an audit or a letter from a fund that wants to examine whether you fall within its scope. That is when it helps to know how it works.

What is a mandatory industry-wide pension fund?

An industry-wide pension fund runs the pension for employers in the same sector, for example construction, retail or health and welfare. For part of these funds, participation is mandatory. It works like this: employers and unions in a sector ask the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment to make participation mandatory. The minister only does so if together they represent a substantial majority of the employees in the sector. They must then prove this again every five years.

The law governing this is the Dutch Mandatory Participation in an Industry-wide Pension Fund Act 2000 (Wet Bpf 2000). Which companies fall under it is set out in the fund's mandatory participation decision (verplichtstellingsbesluit). That decision describes the scope: which companies and which activities belong to it.

Important to know: the obligation also applies to companies that are not members of an employers' organisation and were not at the collective bargaining table. If you do the work, you fall under it.

Is an employer required to offer a pension?

No, not as a general rule. There is no law requiring every employer to have a pension scheme. According to the Dutch government, around 90 percent of employees still have a supplementary scheme. That is because the obligation arises in other ways:

• A mandatory industry-wide pension fund. If your company falls within its scope, you must join. This is the obligation this article is about.
• A collective labour agreement (cao). Even without a mandatory fund, a cao that applies to your company can require a pension scheme.
• An agreement with your employees. If you have promised a pension in the employment contract or staff handbook, you are bound by it.
• Payrolling. If you work with payroll employees, according to the Dutch government they are entitled to an adequate pension scheme.

None of these four apply? Then you are free to choose. A good scheme is still a strong employment benefit. In setting up a pension scheme you can read how to go about it.

When does your company fall under a mandatory pension fund?

As soon as your company carries out activities described in the scope of a mandatory participation decision. Not from the moment the fund sends you a letter, and not from the moment you discover it yourself.

How that scope is described differs per fund. In 2024 the minister wrote to the Dutch House of Representatives that employers and unions decide for themselves which criteria they use. Often there is a description of activities and a rule that a company falls under it if it carries out those activities for the majority. That majority can be measured in payroll, turnover or working hours. Sometimes the activity alone is enough, regardless of how large that part of your business is.

As a result I keep seeing three misunderstandings:

• "Our SBI code says something else." The code at the Chamber of Commerce is not the yardstick. The fund and the courts look at what you actually do.
• "We are too small." The size of your company usually does not count. An employer with two employees can fall under it too.
• "We already have a good scheme with an insurer." That does not protect you automatically. Only a granted exemption does.

Which sectors have a mandatory pension fund?

Many large sectors have one. Below are the sectors employers call me about most often. The exact boundary of each fund is in its mandatory participation decision, which is published in the Staatscourant (Government Gazette) and on the fund's employer website.

This list is not complete. There are also mandatory funds for smaller sectors, such as the food industry and food wholesale. Which mandatory fund you belong to can be looked up at bijwelkpensioenfondshoorik.nl, the search tool the Dutch government refers to.

Watch out for overlap. Some activities touch on two sectors, such as a company that sells bicycles and also repairs them, or a wholesaler that processes products itself. Then the exact wording of both decisions determines where you belong. Which fund it becomes is sometimes a real puzzle.

How do you check the mandatory participation?

You do not need to be a lawyer to do a first check. This is how to go about it:

1. Describe what your company really does. Not the polished description on the website, but the activities and how much payroll, hours or turnover goes into each of them.
2. Look up the possible funds via bijwelkpensioenfondshoorik.nl and the cao for your sector.
3. Read the mandatory participation decision of every fund that comes close. Pay attention to the description of the activities, the threshold (majority in payroll, turnover or hours) and the exceptions.
4. If in doubt, ask the fund for its view and get it in writing. Or have an independent adviser carry out a scope assessment before you contact the fund yourself.

Do not do this check once, but at fixed moments:

• when you start your company or hire your first employee;
• at a takeover or merger, even of a small part;
• when you start a new activity, for example installing in addition to selling;
• when a side activity grows to the point where it makes up the majority of your payroll or hours;
• when a fund changes its mandatory participation decision.

What happens if you are wrongly not affiliated?

According to the minister, you then owe contributions from the moment you fell within the scope. Strictly speaking that is not retroactive: the obligation already existed, you just did not know it. Your employees are entitled to a pension under the fund's rules from that date. A court may rule that part of the contribution claim is time-barred if a long period has passed. But you would have to litigate for that.

In practice this means:

• a contribution bill covering several years, including the employer's and the employee's share;
• deducting the employee's share for those years from your staff afterwards is difficult and often no longer possible;
• the scheme with your insurer continues in the meantime, so you may pay twice for the same period;
• when you sell your company, such a risk surfaces in the buyer's due diligence and lowers the price.

I deliberately do not mention amounts here: they depend entirely on the payroll, the fund's contribution and the number of years. What I can say: the sooner you find out, the smaller the bill.

Applying for an exemption (dispensation): when is that possible?

You apply for an exemption (often called dispensation) to the fund itself. The Exemption and Penalty Decree under the Wet Bpf 2000 (Vrijstellings- en boetebesluit Wet Bpf 2000) sets out when a fund must grant an exemption. The main grounds:

Source: Vrijstellings- en boetebesluit Wet Bpf 2000, articles 1a to 4a, on wetten.overheid.nl. Consulted on 9 November 2026.

The fund may attach conditions to the exemption, such as the requirement that your own scheme is at least equivalent to the fund's. The fund may also ask for compensation for the actuarial disadvantage it suffers when your employees leave. Fixed time limits apply: within two weeks the fund assesses whether your request is complete, you get four weeks to supplement it, and a decision follows within six weeks. If you have to prove equivalence, more weeks are added.

My experience: the "existing scheme" ground only works if you are on time. Anyone who discovers after years that they fall under a fund often no longer meets those six months. That is why the check pays off with a new activity or a takeover.

Frequently asked questions

This article provides general information. Whether your company falls under mandatory participation depends on the wording of the mandatory participation decision and your actual activities. Figures checked on 9 November 2026. Sources: Appendix to the Proceedings of the Dutch House of Representatives 2023-2024, no. 1836 (answers from the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment on mandatory participation), Vrijstellings- en boetebesluit Wet Bpf 2000 (wetten.overheid.nl), Rijksoverheid ("Opbouw pensioenstelsel", "Waar heb ik recht op als ik met pensioen ga?" and "Welke arbeidsvoorwaarden heb ik als payrollkracht?").

Read next: Setting up a pension scheme for your employees · Future Pensions Act for employers