We know the transition to our new CLA has been far from seamless. The VNC has reached out to easyJet on several occasions, as soon as our members informed us about any issues they had faced. In this newsletter we address the issues that we have identified in the last month and have discussed with the company during our monthly meeting. 

Pay deal adjustment March 2024
The February pay deal adjustment was processed in the special tariff. Per our request an additional pay run was made in the normal tariff, at the beginning of March to compensate the crew. Depending on your personal situation this resulted in an additional payment or a negative result, which easyJet has compensated to ensure that no one would be negatively impacted.

Office pay
There was an issue with the OFFC payments and those have also been resolved and back paid in your March pay.

Travel allowance (tax offset scheme)
We know everyone was expecting back pay for the increase of travel allowance in January and February. Our new travel allowance scheme is a gross to net offset, as was communicated during our info sessions and subsequent communications before the vote. This means the amount of travel expenses you are entitled to is deducted gross and paid out net, resulting in less taxes paid and more net salary. This does mean that you need to have the fiscal space to make this adjustment. An example of this would be a crew member living 75 kilometres away from the airport. According to the formula (€ 0,23 x home-work distance x 2 x 214 / 12) of the gross-net exchange this crewmember would be entitled to an exchange of 615,25 per month. A correction of this exchange would not be possible as this would mean that an amount of 1230,50 would have to be exchanged, potentially resulting in a gross salary that is below legal minimum wage. We are now looking into solutions to still process the exchange in arrears over January and February. To adhere to the CLA, the travel allowance that you have received in your January and February will need to be deducted. easyJet is now checking with their payroll provider if it is an option to process this with your May salary, as there is increased fiscal space due to the pay of your “Vakantiegeld”. As soon as we have more information on this matter we will share it with you.

Taxes
It is tax season and we have been approached by several members that have filed their taxes. According to the tax authorities they have not paid the correct amount of tax over their income. As a result they are now required to pay what is owed to the tax authorities.
We are aware that the new entrants that have joined the company towards the end of 2022 are now facing this issue. This is because the tax authorities bases your “bijzonder tarief” (special tariff) on your previous earnings. If they were very low or non-existent in the year before, easyJet is obligated to adjust the special tariff. If any individual wishes to adjust the special tariff, they can request this by making a query with HR via the Connected portal. To avoid the same thing happening to the crew that have started at the end of 2023, we ask you to double check your bijzonder tarief, which you can find in the top right column of your payslip. If this is anything below 36% percent, please reach out to us and we will take a look and send you a template to send to easyJet. That way you will pay a little more tax, but avoid having to pay back a big amount of tax next year. 

If you have not filed your taxes yet and need support, our tax consultant Jeroen van der Steen, can help you for free. Click on this link to get access to his agenda and book a “Aangifte inkomstenbelasting” appointment.
 

Tel Aviv operations
We still receive emails with your concerns about TLV and we ask you to keep sending them to us, management and the Dutch Works council (OR). The VNC and the DWC remain in talks with the company to see how we can best go about the restart.  

For now, we do urge everyone that has concerns about flying to TLV (even if you have not been crewed on a TLV duty yet) to reach out to management and book an appointment. We do not recommend crew to call SICK/FTGD/UNFT (unless your reason for absence is related to these codes) at the last moment as the company wants to avoid roster disruption. Voice your concerns in a timely manner and to engage in conversation with the base team.  

You have the support of the VNC and we ask you to support each other and stick together. If you are still thinking about volunteering but aren’t sure, please reach out to the base team. And of course we will update you as soon as there is new information to share with you.  

A message from Dino
Hi all! Some of you may already know that I have been appointed the new vice-president of the VNC on the 21st of March. I look forward to not just be able to represent the interests of my easyJet cabin colleagues, but also to represent the VNC and its members on an even larger scale.  Thank you for all of your kind words of appreciation and support. 

We thank you very much for reaching out to us and we ask you to keep doing so if you have any questions. Reach out to us via email at sectiebestuur.easyjet@vnconline.nl or via our VNC easyJet WhatsApp service at +31 6 48 17 55 96 (24/7). We are happy to help and look forward to hearing from you.  

Farah van Keeken and Dino Brunst
VNC easyJet board members