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uniQure opts for flexible mobility via NS Go
About uniQure
uniQure is a biotech company, developing solutions for gene therapy. Their manufacturing facility is located in the USA. Their research and technology hub is based in Amsterdam, near the AMC Hospital.
The Amsterdam Holendrecht train, tram and metro station is less than 500 meters away.
Monique, Senior Office Manager and Katerina, Corporate Communications Specialist from uniQure, share their story on their cooperation with NS. uniQure has been using NS Go since October 2021.
Monique and Katerina from uniQure
What was your mobility policy before NS Go?
Before Covid, our people worked 100% at the office. At the time, our mobility policy was simple: employees either got a € 0,19 per kilometre mileage allowance or – if their commute included a train route of at least 20 minutes – a 1st class NS-Business Card.
When Covid came, our situation completely changed. Our employees needed to be able to work from home. Additionally, the number of employees grew rapidly: by 50% over the last 2 years. As a result, the handling of the reimbursements, which were still done manually, became much more complicated and time consuming. We even had to hire an additional colleague to ensure every employee got the correct reimbursement!
So, we were urged to change our mobility policy. We needed a solution that would automate most of our manual tasks and could offer the flexibility to meet the new travel needs of our employees. Our NS contact person, Tom Schonewille, listened to our needs and introduced us to NS Go.
Woman with laptop in the train
And what is your current policy?
NS Go has simplified and automated our processes. Allowing the employees to be in control of managing their trips and receiving the right reimbursement. With our new policy, we wanted to offer more flexibility and opportunities for hybrid working:
  • Free choice between a mileage allowance or an NS-Business Card:
  • € 0,19 per kilometre allowance from door to door, regardless of the way the employee commutes: by car, by bike or on foot.
  • NS-Business Card for all public transport. If the commute includes a 20 minutes train route, our employees can travel 1st class. The calculation of this was fortunately done by Tom from NS. Our employees from cities like Rotterdam, Nijmegen and Eindhoven really value this 1st class benefit.
  • Home working allowance of € 3,- per day. Employees can easily register their home working days in NS Go and receive their allowance automatically via payroll. In addition, they are also provided with a budget which they can use to set up a home office.
  • Bicycle plan (Fietsenplan). With more people from the Amsterdam region joining the company, we see an increase in people coming in by bike.
  • Limit to the number of parking cards, encouraging people to travel by public transport or bike.
Senior Office Manager Monique from uniQure
Monique van Kampen, Senior Office ManageruniQure
“We are trying to make our workplace one of the best possible, also in terms of mobility. Because our people are the true value of our company..”
How did the implementation go?
When we first talked to Tom about NS Go, we were simultaneously working on three different policies. Next to our mobility policy, we already created a remote working policy and a working abroad policy. The mobility policy was the final project, and we wanted to launch everything in one package. Since the date for that launch had already been set, the implementation of NS Go therefore had to go fast. And NS Go managed that!
Because of the fact we had so many projects going on during the implementation, we were very happy that NS Go did most of the implementation. The project management NS Go provided, really made the difference for us!
The communication toolkit NS Go provided, also proved to be very helpful in the onboarding of our employees in NS Go. Our employees really appreciated the FAQ’s, one-page checklist and demos.
Senior Office Manager Monique from uniQure
Monique van Kampen, Senior Office ManageruniQure
“On the project management side, you scored a 12 out of 10. Jules, the Project Manager, provided the structure we needed. And always monitored the scope and deadlines.”
Man and Check scooter
What are your plans for the future?
On the short term, we focus on making the NS Go platform even more user friendly with more automated integrations with our internal systems. Together with Jules, we are working on a more advanced integration with our HR and Finance systems for example.
Also, we would like to create an online tutorial for new employees, to efficiently replace the 30 minutes session we are hosting every month.
In terms of flexibility, we keep on investigating if we want to add new travel options. That’s one of the reasons we chose NS Go: the ease of adding new suppliers to the platform, if the situation changes.
Corporate Communications Specialist Katerina from uniQure
Katerina Leontaridou, Corporate Communications SpecialistuniQure
“Our advice to other companies that want to make mobility changes? Always start by asking your employees!”
Zakenreiziger op OV-fiets
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