Rabobank and the trade organisations (De Unie, FNV and CNV) reached agreement concerning pruning back the Collective Labour Agreement until the end of 2015

Abolishment of variable remuneration
The abolishment of variable remuneration illustrates that the bank and the trade organisations have taken the critical public opinion on variable remuneration seriously. The abolishment of the variable remuneration will be compensated in part by the following:

• Employees will receive a once-only payment in the transitional year 2013 for an amount equal to the variable remuneration in the case of an evaluation with a ‘good’ score
• Salaries will be increased by 1.5% in 2014
• Starting in 2014, each employee will receive an Employee Benefit Budget (EBB) that will also incorporate the existing personal budget and the value of the non-statutory leave hours
• The EBB is a percentage of the total fixed pay and varies from 8% to 16% depending on the position scale. Employees will receive a fixed amount each month that they can use at their own discretion, for example to obtain additional leave hours or to save an additional amount for pension accrual

Severance plan aimed at mobility
The current social statute will be replaced by a severance plan effective 1 May 2013. This will make it possible to absorb the expected job losses (approximately 6,000 through the end of 2016) in a careful fashion. A new aspect of this severance plan is the ‘active mobility’ phase, which is intended to prevent redundant employees as much as possible. Employees in positions that will be subject to major changes will be encouraged and supported in the process of working on and finding a new job inside or outside the bank throughout this phase. The severance plan will provide clarity on the term of counselling and the conditions for terminating the contract of employment for those employees who nonetheless become redundant after the ‘active mobility’ phase.

Future-proof pension
The amendment of the pension scheme, as part of the new Collective Labour Agreement, is the result of negotiations with the trade organisations and representatives of the employee representation body, the Members’ Council and the Rabobank Retirees Association. The new pension scheme will take effect retroactively on 1 January 2013. This scheme fulfils the new legal requirements, namely a retirement age of 67 and a targeted maximum accrual percentage of 2.00% (currently 2.25%). The existing average pay scheme will be replaced by a so-called ‘defined contribution’ scheme (Collective Defined Contribution) that fixes the upper limit of the costs of the pension scheme for the employer and prevents accounting risks for the bank. The employee will pay a pension premium annually to the Rabobank Pension Fund (RPF) that is linked to a maximum and that does not include a requirement to make supplemental payments if necessary. Indexation of the pension for employees and retirees will depend in future on the pension fund’s coverage ratio. This scheme will do justice in a balanced manner to the interests of both young and old (including retirees) and the interests of employees in different salary scales.
The members of the trade organisations will voice their opinions on the proposed Collective Labour Agreement in the weeks ahead. If the members of the trade organisations give their approval on 3 May 2013, the new Collective Labour Agreement for Rabobank will actually take effect on 1 July 2013.

Note for editors, not for publication:
For further questions:
Marie-Christine Reusken, Rabobank Group spokesperson,
Tel. +31302186822 or e-mail c.m.w.reusken@rn.rabobank.nl