Amounts checked: August 2026.
The RVU is a scheme letting you stop working up to three years before your state pension age, with a monthly payment from your employer. In 2026 that's €2,357 gross a month, roughly €1,558 net with the tax credit applied.
Two things changed on 1 January 2026. The scheme became structural rather than temporary. And it was tightened: it's now intended for employees doing heavy work who demonstrably cannot continue healthily to state pension age.
Many pages on this subject still describe the old scheme. What follows is what applies now.
The 2026 amounts
| Gross per month | Per year | |
|---|---|---|
| Base amount | €2,357 | €28,284 |
| With the hardship supplement | €2,657 | €31,884 |
That base amount is chosen deliberately: net, it roughly equals a single person's net state pension. The idea is that it feels as though your state pension started early. The amount is indexed annually and moves with the state pension.
The €300 supplement is intended for employees with low income or little occupational pension. It applies only where social partners agreed it in the collective agreement.
Net, according to union calculations:
| Net per month | |
|---|---|
| With tax credit applied | roughly €1,558 |
| Without tax credit | roughly €1,267 |
Note one thing that often causes confusion: the €2,357 threshold is the fiscal ceiling, and what arrives monthly may be lower depending on how your scheme handles holiday allowance. Ask your employer or administrator for a concrete calculation.
The conditions
Four conditions determine whether no levy is due.
A maximum of 36 months before your state pension age. Shorter is allowed. Stop more than three years early and your employer pays the levy on that portion.
No more than the threshold amount. Receive more than €2,357 a month and your employer pays the levy on the excess.
Heavy work. This is the 2026 tightening. The scheme must be targeted at employees who, because of the demands of their work, cannot reach state pension age in good health.
Recorded in a collective agreement. Collective agreement parties determine which roles qualify, and submit that definition for validation to the national research organisation's heavy-work expertise centre.
A legal nuance that matters practically: the legal text itself contains no heavy-work requirement. The threshold exemption remains a generic fiscal measure. The heavy-work condition is an agreement between government and social partners, filled in at the bargaining table. For you as an employee that means: what your collective agreement says is decisive, not what the law says.
What counts as heavy work?
There's no national list. Sectors determine it themselves, and interpretations differ.
The categories recurring in agreements:
Physically demanding work. Lifting, carrying, repetitive movement. Construction, ports, cleaning, production.
Mentally or emotionally demanding work. Verbal aggression, emotionally heavy tasks. Care, education, emergency services.
Irregular shifts. Night work, rotating shifts, changing rosters. Care, transport, process industry.
Demanding environmental conditions. Noise, vibration, heat, cold.
Which roles qualify in your sector is in your collective agreement. Several sectors now have arrangements, including construction, metal and engineering, care and welfare, transport and government.
If you're not on the list, this route is closed, however heavy your work feels.
The levy behind it
If your employer pays more than the threshold, or you stop more than three years early, a pseudo-final levy applies to that portion.
| Year | Levy |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 52% |
| 2026 | 57.7% |
| 2028 | 65% |
That increase is deliberate: it makes exceeding the threshold progressively more expensive for employers. Practically it means almost no employer will pay above the threshold amount.
What the scheme is worth to you
Now the calculation that appears on no other page.
At €1,558 net a month you receive €56,088 across three years. More interesting is what you'd have needed yourself to bridge those same three years.
At a 4% real return, a stream of €18,696 a year for three years is worth €51,883 today.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Net payment per year | €18,696 |
| Capital equivalent across three years | €51,883 |
In other words: the scheme saves you over fifty thousand euros of your own wealth. That's a substantial amount, and it's precisely why the scheme is politically sensitive.
Does it cover your spending?
For most people, not fully. The payment is pegged to a single person's state pension, and that's tight.
| Annual spending | Per month | Shortfall per year | Needed yourself for 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| €18,000 | €1,500 | €0 | €0 |
| €24,000 | €2,000 | €5,304 | €14,719 |
| €30,000 | €2,500 | €11,304 | €31,370 |
| €36,000 | €3,000 | €17,304 | €48,020 |
| €42,000 | €3,500 | €23,304 | €64,671 |
At €30,000 of annual spending you still need €31,370 of your own wealth on top of the payment. Without the scheme that would have been €83,253. How to make that bridge calculation yourself is in the article on retiring early.
This is the figure to start with when considering the scheme: not whether you qualify, but whether the payment plus your own wealth covers your spending.
What it costs you in pension
A drawback rarely mentioned that lasts for life.
During the scheme you accrue no pension, unless something separate is arranged. Your survivor's pension also stops, a risk affecting your partner that recurs in the article on the drawbacks of drawing your pension early.
| Accrued pension | Per accrual year | Missing three years costs | Present value |
|---|---|---|---|
| €12,000 over 40 years | €300 | €900 a year | roughly €22,500 |
| €15,000 over 45 years | €333 | €1,000 a year | roughly €25,000 |
| €18,000 over 40 years | €450 | €1,350 a year | roughly €33,750 |
Set that beside the €51,883 the scheme delivers. Net it remains favourable, but the gap is smaller than it appears, and the pension effect lasts the rest of your life.
Ask your pension provider what happens to your accrual and survivor's cover before signing. Some schemes allow continuation.
Can you earn alongside it?
One of the most-asked questions, and the answer requires care.
The scheme exists so you can stop working. Fiscally there's no explicit earnings limit, but working substantially can raise the question of whether early exit is still occurring. That touches the conditions under which your employer avoids the levy.
Discuss it beforehand and have it recorded. A retrospective assessment landing on your employer is a problem you don't want to cause.
How to apply
Check your collective agreement first. It states whether your sector has an arrangement and which roles qualify. No arrangement usually means no scheme.
Calculate your state pension date precisely. The scheme begins at most 36 months before it. Your personal date is on svb.nl, and it isn't fixed if you were born on or after 1 October 1964. See the article on state pension age.
Ask for a calculation. Gross, net, with and without the tax credit, and what happens to your pension accrual.
Work out your own shortfall. The payment probably won't cover your spending fully. What remains must come from your own wealth.
Watch the deadlines: some steps take time, and the scheme doesn't start retroactively.
What could still change
The scheme is structural but not set in stone.
There's a review every three years, first at the end of 2028. Government and social partners then assess whether it can continue unchanged.
There's a signal threshold of 15,000 users a year. Exceed it, or fail to honour the agreements, and measures aren't ruled out.
Arrangements made before 31 December 2025 may be carried out, and schemes existing at the end of 2028 get a three-year run-off.
The sustainable-employability subsidy ended on 31 December 2025. Employers who counted on it now bear the costs themselves, which may reduce willingness.
In short: if you qualify and it fits, waiting isn't a neutral choice.
How Gylder fits in
The scheme covers three years, and usually not fully. The question left is whether your own wealth can absorb the shortfall.
Gylder totals your wealth daily across bank, broker, crypto, precious metals and your property with the mortgage underneath, and categorises your spending automatically. That gives you the two figures from the table above: what you genuinely spend, and what you genuinely have.
For the years after your state pension date, the bridge calculator works out what's needed there, using the method from the article on your FIRE number, with your own state and occupational pensions included, and saves it as a wealth target.
What this doesn't tell you
The amounts are indexed annually. What's here applies to 2026. Check the current amount before calculating.
Your collective agreement is decisive. Which roles count as heavy work, and whether the €300 supplement applies, varies by sector.
The net amounts are approximations. What you keep depends on your personal situation and whether you apply the tax credit.
It's your employer's scheme. You have no right to it because your work is heavy; an arrangement must exist and your employer must cooperate.
This isn't advice. Have your situation calculated before committing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the RVU scheme? An arrangement letting you stop working up to three years before state pension age, with a monthly payment from your employer. Since 1 January 2026 it's structural and intended for employees doing heavy work.
How much is it in 2026? €2,357 gross a month, or €2,657 if your collective agreement includes the hardship supplement. Net, roughly €1,558 with the tax credit and €1,267 without.
Is it available to everyone? No. Since 2026 it targets employees doing heavy work who cannot continue healthily to state pension age. Which roles qualify is in your collective agreement.
What changed after 2025? The scheme became structural rather than temporary, the amount rose by €300 for hardship cases, the levy above the threshold rises to 65% by 2028, and use is restricted to heavy work.
Can I earn alongside it? There's no explicit fiscal limit, but working substantially can affect the conditions under which your employer avoids the levy. Discuss it beforehand.
Do I accrue pension during it? Usually not, unless separately arranged. Your survivor's pension may also stop. Check with your provider.