24. Employee benefits

The balance in the provision for termination benefits at the end of 2018 includes among others the costs Schiphol Group expects to incur in respect of restructurings in a few of its departments. The restructurings were announced in 2018 and implementation is ongoing or will commence in 2019.

Post-employment benefits consist of pension plans and job-related early retirement benefits. Other long-term employee benefits consist of long-service awards, disability benefit supplements and sustainable employment budget. The movements in post-employment benefit liabilities during the year were as follows:

The table below gives an overview of actuarial assumptions and estimates applied. Given the minimal impact, a significant variance in the balance sheet position as a result of other assumptions is unlikely.

Actuarial assumptions and estimates

Schiphol Group’s pension plan is administered by Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds (ABP). Based on the formal terms of the pension scheme, it qualifies as a defined-contribution plan. Schiphol Group recognises the pension contributions payable to ABP as an expense in the income statement. Further information on this point can be found under Accounting policies.

The ABP pension regulations do not contain any provisions on additional contributions to the fund and/or withdrawals from it in respect of Schiphol Group’s share in surpluses or deficits of the pension fund. Consequently, any surpluses and deficits will only result in changes in the amount of the contributions payable by Schiphol Group in the future and these will depend on the actual and expected financial position of the pension fund as reflected in the funding ratio. The expected contribution payment for 2019 is 30.0 million euros. ABP’s funding ratio was 97.0% as at 31 December 2018 (104.4% as at 31 December 2017).