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This contains the answers to a series of frequently asked questions about the pensions of Shell employees. If you cannot find the answer to your question here, please feel free to contact us.

You may want to ask questions or make comments in respect of the website. In that case, please use the response form  to contact us.

How is my pension calculated?

What will happen if I start working part-time?

Is my partner eligible for a pension?

Are my children eligible for a pension?

What will happen if I work abroad for Shell?

What will happen if I fall ill?

How do I know how much pension I have accrued?

Can I make extra pension contributions?

When can I retire?

What will happen when I take leave?

I am about to get divorced, what will happen to the partner's pension?

How do I as participant receive information?

I am approaching retirement. What should I do?

Who can I contact if I have individual questions about my pension scheme?

Who can I contact if I have questions about benefits under the General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW)?

Your pension is calculated on your retirement date according to the formula:

 

number of pension years x pension basis x accrual formula

Where:

Pension year: Your number of pension years is equal to the number of years in which you were in full service of Shell. If you worked part-time for a certain period, those years will count proportionately toward this. In other words: if, for example, you have worked part-time (80%) for two years, you will have accrued 80% x 2 = 1.6 pension years during those years. You may also have extra pension years, for example because you have transferred the pension entitlements that you accrued with a previous employer to the Pension Fund.

Pension basis: 12 x your gross monthly salary + lump-sum payments in April and/or December + any accrued pensionable supplements.

Pensionable supplement: Any salary supplement that is taken into account when calculating your pension entitlements. A pensionable supplement is expressed as a percentage of your salary, and as from 1st January 2006 is included in your pension basis according to the number of years (or: pro rata). The employing company decides which supplements are pensionable.

Accrual formula: The percentages in the accrual formula differ. You can find information about the structure of pension entitlements in the section titled retirement pension.

If you start working part-time, you will accrue a proportional number of pension years during the period that you work part-time. If you work part-time (50%) for a 4-year period, you will accrue 50% x 4 = 2 pension years in that period.

Your partner is entitled to partner’s pension in the event of your predecease. This is the case if you are married or have entered into a legally registered partnership. If you are cohabiting with your partner and have registered a cohabitation agreement before a civil-law notary, showing that you have designated your partner as beneficiary of the partner's pension, you may enrol your partner with the Pension Fund for a partner’s pension. A form is available to that end.

The partner’s pension is 70 per cent of the participant’s retirement pension. If you are accruing pension under the pension scheme at the time of your predecease, the pension years you would otherwise have accrued until your retirement date will be taken into account when calculating the partner’s pension.

If your partner is younger than 65 at the time of your predecease, he or she will receive a partner’s supplementary pension until that age is reached.

If you have children at the time of your decease, they will receive an orphan’s pension until they reach the age of 18 years. As long as your child is attending a course of study, he will receive this pension until the end of the month of August following his 24th birthday. The orphan’s pension is 14 per cent of the sum total of partner’s pension and partner’s supplementary pension. Orphans both of whose parents have died receive double this amount.

If you are employed by Shell abroad, you can remain a Pension Fund participant in most cases. In many cases, it is not possible to continue accruing a Dutch State Pension under the General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW) while living abroad. For every year you spend abroad, you accrue 2 per cent less AOW. You yourself can take out extra insurance or make additional savings in order to compensate for this. More information is available from the section titled: service abroad.

Nothing will happen if you happen to fall ill for a couple of days. If you are ill for a prolonged period, this will not alter your pension situation, provided you remain in employment. If you are completely disabled for more than two years, you will be eligible for a disability pension. The Pension Fund decides on the existence of such disability. This decision is made by a Shell company physician designated to that end. While the disability pension is being paid, your retirement pension continues to accrue until you turn 65. If you are eligible for benefits under the WAO (Disablement Insurance Act) and you retire before your 65th birthday, these benefits will be deducted from your retirement pension.

Your personal pension statement indicates the amount of pension entitlements you have accrued. Participants receive this summary in February of each year. If you have access to SWW, the Shell intranet, you can also view your pension entitlements with the Pension Calculator. You can find the Pension Calculator on the right side of your screen.

No. You yourself cannot deposit funds in the Pension Fund in order to realize a higher pension. Shell Nederland B.V. has entered into a contract with an insurance company with whom employees can make savings for additional pension payments. Further information on this arrangement can be found on the Shell intranet (SWW), on de site 'HR Online'.

You can also make savings in the Life Cycle Savings Scheme (Levensloop regeling) provided by the bank or insurance company of your choice. You can use the savings balance from the Life Cycle Savings Scheme to stop working early, for example immediately preceding your retirement. Finally, you are of course free to make your own saving arrangements. More information about the Life Cycle Savings Scheme can be found in the brochure ‘Life Cycle Savings Scheme’. This brochure is electronically available on the Shell intranet (SWW), on de site 'HR Online'.

According to the Regulations, you officially retire when you reach the age of 65. But you can choose to retire between the ages of 55 and 65. If you wish to retire at a different age than 65, you must inform the Pension Fund and your employing company of your decision no later than 6 months in advance and no earlier than 12 months in advance by means of a special form. In consultation with your employing company, you can also continue working after you turn 65, up to no later than 70 years of age. The earlier you retire, the lower your pension payment will be. Conversely: the later you retire, the higher your pension will be.

If you wish you may, by arrangement with your employing company, take part-time retirement at any time as from the age of 55: part-time retirement.

If you take a period of unpaid or parental leave, your pension accrual will be discontinued during that period. Your employing company pays contributions to insure against the risk of your predecease or disability during your period of leave. Consequently, in such cases the pension years that you would otherwise accrue until your official retirement age will continue to be taken into account when calculating a partner’s pension or a disability pension.

During Life Cycle leave, you accrue pension on your Life Cycle payout for a maximum of six months over your entire period of employment with Shell. During periods of leave in which no pension is accrued, you are insured against disability and predecease on a risk basis.

The Pension Fund does not distinguish between the termination of a marriage, a legally registered partnership or a relationship with an enrolled partner. If you and your partner separate, your former partner becomes entitled to part of the partner’s pension, this is termed the special partner’s pension. However, partners may exclude each other from the right to special partner’s pension, or they may waive their right to this entitlement.

In the case of divorce or termination of a registered partnership, your former partner is entitled by law to half of the retirement pension accrued while you were married or in a registered partnership. This is referred to as settlement of the retirement pension. However, the partners can also agree some other apportionment. You are required to notify the Pension Fund about whether and how the retirement pension is to be apportioned.

If your relationship with your enrolled partner is terminated, your former partner has no statutory right to a part of the retirement pension.

If there is a settlement of the retirement pension, your former partner receives his/her portion of the retirement pension from the moment your pension is in payment. See also: ending of a relationship.

Each year you receive a personal pension statement relating to your specific pension situation. If you have access to SWW, the Shell intranet, you can carry out pension calculations with the Pension Calculator. You can find the Pension Calculator on the right side of your screen.

You can make a number of choices as you approach retirement. When you retire, you receive a statement of your accrued pension entitlements from the Pension Fund, for more details see under 'retirement'. 

Clicking on this website’s contact link reveals the various ways in which you can contact us with your questions or comments.

You can contact the Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verzekeringsbank) for more information about this. The link can be found on this site under 'useful links'.