Mortgage and Employer's Declaration: Your Legal Questions

Questioner

Hello dear Lawyer, At the moment I am orienting myself for a Mortgage. At many advice agencies and banks you have to submit a number of documents before they know how much you can borrow. One of the most important documents in this is the employer's statement. Situation: I work on a commission basis. I earn a fixed salary and a variable salary (this is 30K fixed & 20k variable) annually. I also have the opportunity to earn extra as soon as I exceed my target (100%). This happened last year (12 months) and I earned an extra 30K variable salary (paid in August 15K and February 2019 15K). So 80K gross total earned. When I request my employer's statement, my HR department only includes the 30K fixed and 20K variable. So they only count the 50K total that I would earn at 100% of my target. They refuse to include the remaining 30K variable on this document. It is a personally earned bonus that is linked to personal performance. My employer states that this is policy and that they are not obliged to include everything. Because of this joke, I can borrow a lot less because the commission stated on my pay slips does not match the commission stated on the employer's statement and lenders ask questions about this. Logical! Finally, I am aware of the fact that colleagues of mine did obtain this in 2017 on their employer's declaration. I have proof of this based on photos of e-mail traffic. My question: - Isn't the employer simply obliged to show the actual representation of gross salary/earnings? - The employer refuses to adjust this. On what basis can I demand this? Good employer practices?

Lawyer

If the employer wants to provide an employer's declaration, it must be filled in correctly. In principle, the employer must then state all salary components that are fixed and unconditional, but regular variable salary components must also be stated. The other variable component that applies in your case must be indicated on a separate appendix. If the employer refuses to do this, you can file a complaint (good employer practices), in which you also try to get in writing what the reason is for your employer's refusal. Filling in the declaration incorrectly or inadequately can have adverse consequences for the employer. Point this out to him. If you cannot reach an agreement, I would be happy to look at your case.