The works council and the employer can adapt a number of provisions to their specific workplace. For example, if too many requests for days off are submitted and cannot be accommodated within the company, an agreement can be reached to distribute the days off across the workforce—for instance, four days for all applicants. Additionally, the employer and the works council can agree that everyone in the company takes days off, thereby safeguarding jobs.
Starting in 2026, the collective bargaining supplementary payment B (T-ZUG B or supplementary amount) will increase from 18.5 percent of the base pay in the respective collective bargaining region—currently around 630 euros in the Coastal and Bavaria regions—to a flat rate of 26.5 percent of the base pay, or around 900 euros (slightly more or less in the other collective bargaining regions). As a result, the lower pay grades will receive a significantly higher percentage of their individual monthly pay than the higher pay grades.
IG Metall has thus achieved its goal of a “social component” that particularly benefits employees with lower incomes.
However, the T-ZUG B will no longer be paid out in July along with the T-ZUG A, as was previously the case, but rather in February—in exchange for the transformation allowance (T-Geld), which is now paid out in July.
The reason for this is that, going forward, the T-Geld—and no longer the T-ZUG B—can be “differentiated.”
“Differentiation” Remains—T-ZUG B Is Retained
Operators in financial difficulty were already able to “differentiate” the T-ZUG B in 2023 and 2024—meaning they could defer or suspend it entirely if their net return fell below 2.3 percent.
Differentiation will still be possible in 2025 and 2026. However, it will no longer be the T-ZUG B that is differentiated, but rather the transformation allowance (T-Geld)—previously paid out in February—amounting to 18.4 percent of the individual’s monthly salary.
As a result, the T-ZUG B—which will increase from 18.5 percent to 26.5 percent of the base pay in 2026—will remain in place as a “social component” for employees in the lower pay grades.
However, since companies cannot yet sufficiently predict how the economic situation will develop over the course of the year when the T-Geld is paid out in February, IG Metall and employers have postponed the payment of the T-Geld to July—in exchange for the T-ZUG B, which was previously paid out in July and will now be paid out in February.
Preserving Our Industrial Nation—Politicians Must Also Step Up
In a joint statement, IG Metall and the employers’ association Gesamtmetall are calling on policymakers to set the right course as quickly as possible to improve Germany’s competitiveness on the international stage. Structural problems have heightened the challenge of securing locations and jobs, as well as developing new employment prospects within companies, the industry, and the region.
- Bringing electricity costs down to an internationally competitive level. This includes introducing a transitional electricity price for energy-intensive companies that face international competition—regardless of their size. There is an urgent need to reduce grid fees for all companies, as well as the electricity tax.
- Accelerated expansion of all renewable energy sources, transmission and distribution grids, as well as storage facilities and backup power plants.
- Ensuring necessary government investment in sustainable infrastructure (transportation, digital networks, energy, etc.) and innovation (research funding, startups, technology transfer) and transformation, as well as increased incentives for private investment
- Digitizing and modernizing public administration to accelerate planning and permitting processes
- Stepping up efforts to scale up e-mobility—including through the rapid expansion of a Europe-wide charging infrastructure and ensuring affordable charging electricity Both the economic situation and structural problems heighten the challenge of securing business locations and jobs, as well as developing new employment opportunities within one’s own company, the industry, and the region. To the extent possible and appropriate, local labor market and education policy initiatives will be supported and, if necessary, accompanied by collective bargaining measures.
“Collective bargaining can achieve a great deal—we’ve demonstrated that. Social partnership is the most important stabilizing factor for companies and employees in uncertain times. We find common solutions,” explained IG Metall Chairwoman Christiane Benner, calling on policymakers to now also demonstrate their ability to act and not to waste any time. “Politicians must solve the structural problems we currently face. We need lower energy prices now, especially for energy-intensive companies. We need measures now to ramp up electric mobility, investments in infrastructure, and thus in our future.”
You can find IG Metall’s 11-point plan for preserving our industrial nation here: IG Metall’s 11-Point Plan
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