Note 24 Employee benefit expense

The staff costs relating to pensions, reorganisations and other long-term employee benefits were as follows:

Employee benefit expense for pensions, reorganisation and other long-term employee benefits

A note on the reorganisation costs is included in note [15] on provisions for employee benefits.
For further details of the other long-term employee benefits, reference is made to the disclosures in note [15]. The external staff costs amounted to €137 million (2017: €151 million) and related to contract staff for specific projects and to fill vacancies.
The number of staff employed by Alliander, based on a 38-hour working week (FTEs), is shown in the table below:

Number of permanent staff (FTEs)

WNT

On 1 January 2013 the Act on the Standardisation of Remuneration of Senior Executives in the Public and Semi-Public Sector (WNT) came into operation. The act lays down rules governing the maximum remuneration of senior executives in the public and semi-public sector. The amount is set annually by a ministerial ruling.

WNT reporting

The WNT is applicable to network operator Liander N.V. The WNT requires disclosure of the remuneration of senior executives. Transparency is also required concerning the remuneration of other internal officers whose income exceeds a set level in the reporting period. Liander will be reporting on the WNT requirements applicable to the network operator in a separate annual report to be published in the second quarter of 2019.

Remuneration of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board

The Remuneration Report covers the remuneration policy, its implementation and the remuneration of the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board (key management). The three paragraphs concerned can be found in the ‘Corporate governance’ section of our 2018 annual report. The following tables disclose the remuneration of the members of the Management Board.

Total gross annual remuneration chargeable to the financial year

• 1 Retired 31 August 2017.

The fixed salary concerns the actual amount paid each year; it does not include amounts set aside for other forms of remuneration.

Settlement of contract obligations

With regard to the departure of Mr Van Lieshout, the Supervisory Board acted in accordance with the contractual arrangements with Mr Van Lieshout. Mr Van Lieshout will accordingly receive a payment of €310,000. This amount has been charged to 2018.

Pension contributions

• 1 Retired 31 August 2017.

Social security charges and other remuneration elements

• 1 Retired 31 August 2017.

In addition to the normal social security charges and contributions applicable to the company, the members of the Management Board are entitled to an employer’s contribution to the collective health insurance plan, to contributions connected with their ‘personal budget’ under the conditions of employment, to an expense allowance and to the use of a company car.

Remuneration of the Supervisory Board