Ministers will tomorrow discuss finance minister Wouter Bos’ plans to put a ceiling on top level public sector pay, RTL news reports, quoting sources close to the cabinet.

While the bosses of most state owned companies will face a ceiling of €350,000, some arms-length companies – such as Dutch Rail (NS) and the Schiphol airport group – will be given free reign.
This is because they compete in an open market, the sources quote Bos as saying. Nevertheless, as major shareholder, the government will pressure companies to keep salary packages low, RTL said.
Schiphol’s boss gets a pay package of €693,000 a year while the head of the NS earns €687,000, magazine Elsevier reported this summer.
The new ceiling will only apply to newly appointed executives.
The news appears to conflict with earlier reports on cabinet plans to tackle public sector pay.
Under cabinet guidelines, people working in the public sector should not earn more than the premier’s €171,000 a year.
Bonuses
Meanwhile, Fortis Bank Nederland has reduced some of the bonuses it planned to pay to staff to keep them loyal to the company under pressure from the central bank, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.
The 52 bonuses paid before the bank’s partial nationalisation a week ago are not being withdrawn. The payouts ranged from €14,000 to €140,000, the paper says.