Why did IG Metall negotiate a crisis relief package?
In light of the extraordinary situation, IG Metall aims to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers and safeguard their jobs and incomes.
What exactly have IG Metall and employers agreed upon?
IG Metall and employers in North Rhine-Westphalia have agreed on regulations that facilitate the introduction of short-time work to secure jobs—while reducing financial losses and social hardship associated with short-time work. They also allow for special leave to address childcare shortages.
IG Metall and employers have now essentially adopted the crisis package from North Rhine-Westphalia in all collective bargaining areas of the metal and electrical industries nationwide. In the short term, IG Metall is also seeking such arrangements in other sectors. In many companies, works councils and IG Metall have also secured company agreements to supplement short-time work benefits.
How is the introduction of short-time work being facilitated?
To facilitate short-time work, the “Zukunft in Arbeit” (ZiA) collective bargaining agreement from the 2009–2010 financial crisis is being reactivated and updated. The ZiA 2020 collective bargaining agreement provides that special payments are to be paid out in installments: Annual special payments (vacation pay and Christmas bonus) are divided into twelve parts and added to the regular monthly pay.
This reduces the so-called residual costs of short-time work. If short-time work ends before the end of the year, one-twelfth of the special payments will still be added to the normal monthly pay, in accordance with the Employment Agency’s guidelines. Employees will then receive the remaining portions of the annual special payments with their November paycheck.
According to the TV ZiA collective bargaining agreement, layoffs for operational reasons are then prohibited, at least for employees who are on short-time work.
How are wage losses during short-time work mitigated?
The pro-rated distribution of Christmas and vacation bonuses increases monthly pay and, consequently, the basis for short-time work benefits. This makes it possible to top up short-time work benefits (60 percent of net pay, 67 percent for employees with children) to approximately 80 percent.
In addition, a top-up may be provided from a new solidarity fund, through which IG Metall and employers aim to alleviate social hardship.
In Baden-Württemberg, collective bargaining agreements providing for additional employer contributions have been in effect for some time—see also the short-time work allowance calculator.
How is financial hardship being alleviated?
The new “Solidarity Collective Bargaining Agreement 2020” stipulates that a “solidarity fund” must be established in every company to alleviate social hardship, particularly for employees heavily affected by short-time work. The amount contributed to this fund is calculated by multiplying the number of employees in the company by 350 euros. The specific payment terms are regulated by the works council and the employer in a company agreement. Any unused funds from the solidarity fund will be distributed equally among the employees working at the company as of the cutoff date of December 1, 2020.
In Baden-Württemberg, the solidarity fund does not apply, as the collective bargaining partners in the southwest agreed years ago on more extensive employer contributions.
When do the two collective bargaining agreements take effect?
Immediately. The two collective bargaining agreements may be terminated for the first time as of December 31, 2020.
What are the provisions regarding childcare?
In the metal and electrical industries, employees with children have the option to take a portion of the collective bargaining supplementary allowance (T-ZUG A) in the form of, as a rule, 8 days off. Previously, this applied only to children up to age 8.
What’s new is that, in the event of childcare shortages due to school and daycare closures, this option is now extended to parents with children up to age 12. Employees can also exercise this option very quickly, with a notice period of 10 calendar days. By agreement with the employer, the notice period may also be shorter.
In addition, employees with children up to age 12 are entitled to an additional 5 days off, paid by the employer, in the event of daycare and school closures. The prerequisite for these 5 days is that the employee has previously exhausted other options: government-funded leave, use of remaining vacation days and work-time accounts, as well as days off in lieu of T-ZUG A.
Why is this necessary at all?
Because the necessary legal provisions are lacking. IG Metall criticizes the federal government’s approach to designing the crisis-response short-time work scheme. The union’s president, Jörg Hofmann, emphasizes: “Unfortunately, we must acknowledge that we will not be able to provide comprehensive protection for employees in the way we have now agreed upon in collective bargaining agreements. In all companies without collective bargaining agreements and in industries without strong collective bargaining partnerships, people are left out in the cold. No family budget can withstand a sudden reduction in income of over 40 percent. While policymakers are providing billions in aid packages for companies and freelancers, millions of salaried employees remain unprotected.”
What will happen to the remaining issues from the 2020 collective bargaining round?
The parties to the collective bargaining agreement also commit to resuming negotiations on the issues raised during the 2020 round—particularly regarding how companies can address the challenges posed by transformation—once the pandemic has subsided. Jörg Hofmann adds: “Once we’ve dealt with the immediate problems, we’ll turn our attention back to the issues of the future.”
What are these future-oriented issues?
There have been discussions and negotiations regarding job security, skills development, and future collective bargaining agreements to address digitalization and transformation in the metal and electrical industries. Other topics, in addition to the wage increase, include the harmonization of working hours in the eastern federal states and collective bargaining provisions for dual-track students and apprentices.
Short-Term Crisis Package: Safeguards for Employees in the Metal and Electrical Industries
