Achmea makes final offer for a new two-year collective labour agreement
On 20 December 2021, as part of the negotiations with the FNV Finance, CNV Vakmensen and De Unie trades unions, Achmea made a final offer for a new two-year collective labour agreement to run to 1 December 2023 and covering some 12,000 employees.
Achmea and the unions were able to agree on many substantive points, but in the end the gap on pensions and pay proved too large for a jointly-agreed result to be achieved. Consequently, in order to arrive at a new collective bargaining agreement, Achmea has put a final offer to the unions and they will now present it to their members. The voting will take place between Thursday 23 December 2021 and Friday 14 January 2022.
Sustainable employment practices
Bianca Tetteroo, chair of the Executive Board of Achmea: “Based on Duurzaam Samen Leven, our vision of living sustainably together, we want to create sustainable value for our customers, our employees and our business and for society. We have properly and carefully weighed up these interests for the collective labour agreement. We have done everything we could and regret that we could not achieve a jointly-agreed result. In this final offer for a new collective labour agreement, we are again investing in sustainable employment practices for now and the future. We are offering a package of employment conditions that fits seamlessly with our vision and allows employees to use and develop their talents to the maximum extent.”
The final offer includes the following elements:
- Salaries will increase by 3% on 1 January 2022 and 1% on 1 January 2023.
- A one-time gross payment of €750 for each employee in January 2023.
- A one-time net climate budget of €2,500 to be spent from 2023.
- Pension contributions to be capped at 40% of the pension base.
- Unlimited training budget for all employees and temporary staff employed for more than three months.
- Made-to-measure bereavement leave (no maximum).
- Early retirement scheme (RVU) for employees within three years of the state pension age.
Pensions
The cost of the pension scheme has risen sharply in recent years and so formed a disproportionately large part of the overall scope for employment conditions. Consequently, the final offer includes a cap on contributions of 40% of the total of all pension bases. The pension scheme will continue to be in line with schemes at the upper end of the market. The aim continues to be to safeguard pension accrual as muchr as possible. After the changes there will still be a high-quality pension scheme.
Climate budget
Climate change is an important theme in our strategy. Achmea has ambitious climate targets. This means that we not only look at our own footprint but also encourage customers and employees to become greener.
In 2023 all employees will therefore receive a unique climate budget of €2,500 (net). This sum can be spent on products and services that contribute to sustainability and so to improving the climate. In this way, Achmea is shaping its climate ambitions in a contemporary way as part of its employment conditions. The exact details will be developed during 2022 and Achmea has invited the unions to do this jointly.
Unlimited training budget
All employees will have the opportunity to follow training courses they select from a broad training catalogue. The manager’s approval is not required and the departmental budget is not a limiting factor. This is part of the ambition to allow employees to use and develop their talents to the maximum extent
Voting until 14 January 2022
The three unions will put the final offer to a vote of their members. They have until Friday 14 January 2022 to cast their votes. If the members agree, the agreement will become definitive and the arrangements can be implemented.