Local government officials will receive a pay rise of 3.25% over two years after unions and employers agreed a deal on Monday night.

Under the agreement, negotiated by the local government association VNG and unions including the FNV, wages will be increased by 1% in August with a further 1.5% rise in January.

An additional payment known as the individueel keuzebudget (IKB), which is given in lieu of holiday pay and end-of-year bonuses, will also increase by 0.5% in January and 0.25% next July. The pay deal covers the period from May 2017 until the end of 2018.

FNV negotiator Bert de Haan told RTL that the breakthrough in the long-running talks had taken unions by surprise. ‘The talks were grinding on so slowly I thought we wouldn’t manage it before the summer,’ he said.

Unions also succeeded in including a clause that requires employers who hire workers on a casual or payroll basis to pay a supplement, which is designed to encourage them to offer more permanent contracts.

The pay deal applies to some 160,000 employees of municipal councils, local health services, liaison committees and other organisations under the umbrella of local government services.