Bianca Tetteroo, Chair of the Executive Board: ‘We’re very pleased to have arrived at this collective labour agreement together with all of the unions, and with broad support among our employees. It was the first time that union members as well as all employees could vote on the outcome. That was a nice, innovative aspect, and they all rose by the occasion. The CLA includes a comprehensive package of agreements that does justice to the wishes and needs of our employees. Once again, we are investing in sustainable employment for now and the future.

Main subjects in the new collective labour agreement

• Agreements regarding wages:
  o   Starting from January 2024, there will be a structural wage increase of €300 gross per month, with a minimum of 7% for scales up to H, and a minimum of 6% for scales I, J and K. This comes to a weighted average of 7.5% in 2024.
  o   At the start of 2024 there will be a one-off payment of €2,000 gross.
  o   Starting from January 2025, there will be a structural pay rise of 4%.
• From 1 January 2025, the ceilings for the three highest scales will be increased in order to align better with the labour market.
• An alternative commuting compensation scheme (pay per use) will be implemented from 1 July 2024. This is expected to align better with our way of working and travelling, and will better suit Achmea’s sustainability goals.
• The existing pension scheme will be extended at current levels until the Future Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen, Wtp) is implemented.
• A climate budget will also be made available for new employees, following their first year of employment.

Other agreements relate to increasing the continued salary payment for short-term care leave, from 70% to 90% of the salary. Staff will have more times throughout the year to choose more or fewer working hours (through Achmea Select). The Early Retirement Scheme (RVU) allowance will no longer distinguish between part-time and full-time employees. Agreements about pensions as a consequence of the Wtp, such as the type of pension scheme, the premium amount and the commencement date, will be made during 2024.

A summary of all the agreements reached is included in the negotiation result.

We are helping where we can
For our international colleagues, such as our colleagues at Union in Slovakia, Eureko Sigorta in Turkey and our IT helpdesk in Poland, this serious situation is very close to home. The situation is also very worrying and uncertain for our colleagues from a Ukrainian background or with family and friends in the area. In close contact with our international colleagues, we are looking at what they need and how we can help them. The Achmea Foundation is working with colleagues who want to help. Our colleagues in Slovakia are already involved in campaigns launched by Achmea in the Netherlands. For example they are already working hard on the ground to collect goods and raise funds to assist hospitals and other facilities in Ukraine. On the Voor Elkaar platform, Achmea has launched a special crowdfunding campaign to contribute to these efforts.

We are excluding Russia from our investments
Achmea has limited investments in Russia and Belarus[1]. We have added Russia and Belarus to the country exclusion list. By placing these two countries on the country exclusion list, government bonds and state enterprises (interest of >50%) are excluded. This means that we will no longer make any new investments and will sell our existing investments as soon as we can do so responsibly. This is not possible at the moment because stock markets are closed or because of sanctions, for example.

We are informing our customers
We are informing our customers about potential consequences for their products or services (for example, changes in cover). We are doing this via our various customer channels. Further information is also available from the Dutch Association of Insurers: https://www.verzekeraars.nl/verzekeringsthemas/schade/rampen-terreur/verzekeren-oekra%C3%AFne

 [1] Bonds €15 million in Russia and Belarus. Shares: €14 million in Russia - prices at the end of January 2022)