Participating in ODN
To take part in the scheme and be able to use t for your retraining in the future, dancers and their employers must pay premiums. Once enough premiums have been paid, someone can apply for reimbursement of the costs of a training or education plan.
The premium consists of a portion paid by the employer (6.93%) and a portion that the dancer must pay themselves (2.32%). In the ODN –according to the collective labor agreement (cao) employers are obliged to reimburse their share if a freelance dancer wants to participate in the scheme. The dancer then only pays the employee’s portion of the premium. This saves the dancer almost 7%. The condition is that you demonstrate your participation in the scheme.
This way, freelance dancers can save for training, just like employed dancers.
Accumulating premiums with intermittent jobs can be a challenge. Freelancers have the opportunity, under certain conditions, to pay additional premiums. Also, someone who cannot pay premiums for a while may interrupt that obligation for a year.
The combination of the number of premiums someone has paid and the number of years someone has danced determines the size of the budget that someone can access. It grows as someone participates longer. The budget is intended for the reimbursement of study costs and, if necessary, a contribution to living expenses during the study.
From the moment someone has paid 48 premiums and worked for at least 5 years, applications can be submitted. It is possible to make multiple applications for different steps in your education plan. Dancers receive an overview of the accumulated premiums each year.
It’s good to know that if you cannot accumulate enough premiums because your dance career is not going as expected, you cannot get a refund of the premiums you’ve paid. Even if you decide not to participate or not to use the entire budget, you will not get the premiums back.
Is ODN right for you?
Feel free to reach out to us if you’d like to explore the benefits of the program and gain a better understanding of how premium payments function. We’re here to provide you with assistance and insights.
Additionally, whether you participate or not, at any point in your dance career, you can make an appointment for free advice and guidance from one of our career advisors.
For further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@omscholingdansers.nl.