Name: Joyce Mikkers
Age: 45
Job title: Payroll Administrator

How long have you been working for Damen?
“On 1 June 2025, I will have been working at Damen for 21 years.”

What does your job entail?
“We do payroll administration for several Damen companies. So not only for Damen Naval, but also for Yachting, Repair in Vlissingen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and some smaller companies, such as Maritime Logistics, Damen Schelde Marine Services, and Niron. We receive transactions from various departments and make sure they are processed correctly and included on the payslip. But it is also part of my job to approve Mobile Expense (MXP) claims, so that expenses advanced by employees can be reimbursed. I also deal with processing union dues, company fitness, filling out employer statements and making sure the Finance Department gets the right files every month. In addition to payroll, I also do Social Fund administration. There is some work in that too.”

What is the Social Fund and what are your activities for it?
“The Social Fund is a foundation linked to our company that aims to give permanent employees of Damen Naval a helping hand with special (sickness) expenses. These are costs that are not covered by their health insurance. If people have questions about reimbursements, they can contact me. Applications also come to me by email or even post. Once every six weeks, I have a meeting with the board and that’s when the applications are processed and it’s decided which employees are eligible for reimbursement.”

What do you enjoy most about your work?
“The sociability of colleagues and making sure everyone gets a correct pay check every month.”

What can we wake you up at night for?
“Preferably not, but you can certainly wake me up for a flight to Curaçao or something similar.”

What do you think is the most beautiful part of Zeeland, and why?
Then I would go for Oranjezon. A super place for walking and spotting ‘wild’ animals.

This or that?
Pop music/Classical music “Definitely pop music. The radio is always on at work, so I can’t stop myself from singing along from time to time. Whether everyone is so happy about that, I don’t know…
Working from home/Office “Both, actually. Sometimes it’s very convenient at home because of the family, but I also like coming to the office. At home, you miss the sociability of colleagues, and you hear more when you’re in the office.”
People/Animals “People. Everyone is different and that’s the fun. I really like the interaction with each other and the sociability. You can do that with animals too, but they don’t talk back.”
Beach holiday/City trip “Then I’d go for the city trip. I like seeing things; the typical tourist things. New York seems super cool, so that’s on my list for someday. Also, I don’t like getting sand between my toes.”
Takeaway/home cooking “I actually always cook, but it is definitely not my hobby. But having a takeaway every day: that’s not going to work out either.”

To overview