Germany: company agreement on demography for 15,000 employees at Continental’s Rubber Group

On March 18, Continental Group and the IG BCE chemistry union signed a company agreement for the 15,000 German employees of its tire division, Rubber Group. This agreement is the first of this kind to rely on the framework agreement on "Working time adjusted to the phases of life and demography" ("Tarifvertrag Demo II"), signed at the end of May 2012 in the chemical industry. It aims to face up to demographic ageing while making work more flexible. With the agreement signed at Rubber Group, older employees will be allowed to start working 4 days a week when they turn 60 with no pay cut (RV 80 system). For younger employees, working time reductions are planned to better balance family and professional obligations. Since these systems are partly funded by the sector's "Demographic Fund," not everyone will be entitled. The beneficiaries will be picked out by April 30, following clear-cut procedures. Planet Labor is explaining the way this new system is going to work. (Ref. 130214)