Our company has its own Pension fund: Stichting Pensioenfonds Staples (Pension fund Staples). This foundation manages the pension scheme and is legally independent of the Staples companies in the Netherlands.
Management support
Blue Sky Group in Amstelveen provides management support, implementation of communication policy and participant and financial administration.
The affiliates can also go here for general information about the fund. In addition, Blue Sky Group is the contact point for matters relating to the Board and any complaints.
The Board
The pension fund has a board of trustees made up of representatives of employers, employees and pensioners. The board consists of 8 members, 4 of whom are appointed by the employer, 2 are nominated by the COR (active participants) and 2 by the Vereniging Gepensioneerden Buhrmann/CE/Staples (pensioners). For detailed information on the board, see the annual report.
Accountability Body
The members of the Accountability Body have the task of monitoring the actions of the Board of Trustees in relation to the policy and the way in which the policy has been implemented. The Accountability Body has two representatives on behalf of the affiliated companies, one representative on behalf of the active members, one on behalf of the former members and three representatives on behalf of the pensioners.
Internal supervision
The Pension Fund ensures the organization of internal supervision. This involves assessing the policy and management procedures, the internal controls, the way in which the implementation of the scheme is managed and controlled and the way in which risk management is dealt with. The internal supervision is carried out at our fund by the Review Committee.
Confidential Advisor
If you carry out work for and/or on behalf of the fund and you feel uncomfortable or unsafe about a work situation that you cannot talk about properly with the person concerned or a director? If so, you can contact a confidential adviser. Then you can go to a confidential advisor. You can also turn to the confidant if you suspect an irregularity, integrity incident or wrongdoing and are hesitant about how to act.
An external confidential advisor on integrity and undesirable behavior has been appointed through the Netherlands Compliance Institute. He can be reached via email: a.pierik@compliance-instituut.nl or by phone: 06 835 99 847.
The pension service department
The executive duties in respect of determining pension entitlements, payments and financial administration have been contracted out to the Blue Sky Group. Some examples of tasks that Blue Sky Group performs for our Pension fund:
• the administration of the entitlements of participants and former participants;
• payment of the benefits to the retired participants;
• providing the Uniform Pension Overview (UPO)
• collecting the necessary data for and compiling of the annual accounts of the Pension fund;
• the performance of the financial administration of the Pension fund (other than the investment administration);
• carry out any other tasks arising from the pension scheme.
Blue Sky group is an independent, professional organization dedicated to supporting pension funds. Blue Sky Group does not form a part of an insurer or financial service. Blue Sky Group performs various activities for more than 70,000 participants, former participants and retired participants of different pension funds. They employ approximately 130 people. They are engaged in pension administration, communication, management support, asset management and consultancy.
As an employee of a company of Staples should you have questions about your pension please contact in the first instance your HR department. They will if necessary contact the Pension fund department.
Buhrmann/CE/Staples Pensioners Association
The association was founded on January 3, 2002 and currently has circa 1,000 members. The objective of the association is "promoting the interests of its members and those who can be members, in particular with regard to current or future pensions or claims to pension from the Pension fund Staples and in general promoting the interests in the social-economic field of said members and potential members.”
The Supervisor
De Nederlandsche Bank, as an independent agency, supervises all pension funds and insurance companies. (please see: www.dnb.nl)
The Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB)
Around 6 months before you reach your AOW-age you can claim your AOW-pension here. If you are registered in the Dutch municipal register, you will automatically receive an application form (please see: www.svb.nl).