Sickness and disability
You would like to know what arrangements we have in place for your pension if you become ill and are declared unfit for work by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV).
Sickness: you continue to accrue pension
In the first 2 years of your sickness you accrue 100% of pension. Even if your salary should drop. If your employment contract ends in the first 2 years of your sickness, your pension accrual ends as well. You can carry on your pension accrual voluntarily under certain conditions. But if you become disabled afterwards, your pension accrual becomes free from contributions.
Disability
You will be assessed by the UWV if you are still unable to work after two years of illnesssickness. The UWV will determine whether you are incapacitated for work and, if so, to what extent. If you are more than 35% incapacitated for work, you will receive benefits from the UWV. You will continue to accrue a portion of your pension. You and your employer do not have to pay for this; it is called exemption from contributions.
WIA allowance
Are you unable to work and has your employer taken out a WIA shortfall allowance with us? If you earned more than the maximum of € 75,864 (2025), you may be entitled to a WIA from PME. This is a disability pension, which you can use to supplement your state WIA allowance. You will be automatically notified by us about the supplement.
Occupational disability of less than 35%
In that case you do not get an UWV allowance. You will not be exempted from paying contributions for your pension accrual either. If you continue to work with an employer in the metal and technology sector, you accrue pension from the hours you do work. If you leave this sector, your pension accrual with PME ends.
Occupational disability between 35% and 80%
PME will pay the pension contributions (for old-age, partner and orphan's pension) proportional to the percentage of your occupational disability. Your pension accrual partially continues, but you do not have to pay contributions. The amount of your non-contributory pension accrual depends on your disability percentage and on the salary your earned on your first day of sickness (see table below). Do you still work in addition to your WIA allowance? In that case you accrue a normal pension from the salary you earn. You and your employer pay the normal pension contributions for that part.
| Percentage of disability | Percentage of non-contributory continuation |
|---|---|
| 65% - 80% | 50,75% |
| 55% - 65% | 42% |
| 45% - 55% | 35% |
| 35% - 45% | 28% |
Are you fully disabled?
You accrue 70% of pension from the portion of your disability. PME pays all of the contributions for your non-contributory pension accrual. Your pension accrual continues partially, but you do not have to pay contributions. The amount of accrued non-contributory pension depends on your disability percentage and the salary you earned on the first day of your sickness (see table below). Do you still work in addition to your WIA allowance? In that case your exemption from contributions will be adjusted accordingly.
| Percentage of disability | Percentage of non-contributory continuation |
|---|---|
| 80% - 100% | 70% |
Did you become disabled prior to 2014?
In 2014 various pension funds and insurance companies signed a covenant about income protection in case of occupational disability. As a result, the requirements for entitlement to non-contributory continuation have become less stringent. This means that your pension accrual (partially) continues, but you and your employer do not pay pension contributions. PME takes on these pension contribution payments. The less stringent conditions have been in force since 2014.
If you became disabled before 2014, you must have accrued pension with PME without interruption until your first WIA/WAO day ór until and including the first WAO year. We are, however, less stringent when it comes to the application term for non-contributory continuation.
If you have become disabled during your participation in the PME scheme and you do not take part in non-contributory continuation, please contact us. Together, we can find out if you are entitled to non-contributory continuation.
Consequences for supplementary and plus schemes
Did you have any additional arrangements, such as any accruals above the salary cap? Did you participate in the scheme on your first day of illness? If so, you may continue to accrue pension (in part) without contributions.
Did you take part in a WIA shortfall pension scheme? You will be notified automatically. Any Temporary Risk Coverage partner and orphan's pension scheme you may have had, will end.
Good to know
- If your disability percentage changes, we will be notified automatically by UWV. Sometimes this takes a while. Do you receive a WIA shortfall pension from PME? Then you may get too much supplement for one or more months. If you get too much supplement, you must pay it back. You can also report a change in your degree of invalidity to us yourself. Send us a copy of the letter you received from UWV which states from which date the percentage changes.
- In all situations mentioned above, you must be a participant in the PME pension scheme on the first day of sickness.
- Are you becoming disabled more than 35%? You may be entitled to (partial) non-contributory pension accrual. Please contact us.
- Any change in your disability percentage affects your pension accrual. If your disability percentage changes, your non-contributory pension accrual may increase or decrease. See the table above.
- If you should end up in early IVA, make sure to contact us. We are happy to help you.