OREANDA-NEWS. All parties involved today agreed upon a new collective agreement package for the employees in Germany subject to the “RWE pay scale”. The package includes the following elements: the “SWITCH” job platform, an individually tailored option within “SWITCH”, a wage agreement for 2015 and 2016, as well as commitments on training.

The main aspect is the collective agreement on socially compatible arrangements in the light of workforce adjustment measures within the RWE Group, "SWITCH collective agreement" for short. The new collective agreement will replace the present one with effect from 1 January 2015 and will be valid until 31 December 2018.

Employees whose jobs are no longer sustainable will sign a new work contract with the holding company of "SWITCH" and will be offered an extensive range of career guidance, further education and training options. The aim is to guide them towards suitable new jobs. However, if an employee rejects a reasonable job offer more than once, their contract may be terminated. At the same time, "SWITCH" functions as an open job exchange for all employees of the Group who wish to change their jobs or develop within the organisation.

Uwe Tigges, Chief Human Resources Officer of RWE AG: "This is a sensible package that sends the right signal at the right time. We demand a lot from our employees but we also provide a safety net."

The second element in the package is a remuneration agreement for the some 21,000 employees and trainees subject to the collective agreement. This part of the agreement is valid for 24 months with effect from January 2015 and will be valid until December 2016. Remuneration will increase by 2.3% as of 1 July 2015. For the period between January 2015 and June 2015, a one-off payment of EUR 1,200 will be made (EUR 400 for trainees). The agreement is rounded off by a collective agreement on training. In spite of decreasing workforce numbers, RWE will continue to train people well beyond the needs of the company itself. In each of the years 2015 and 2016 at least 400 new trainees will start their careers in a company in which the "RWE pay scale" applies. Furthermore, the agreement contains a commitment to offer all trainees who successfully pass their final examinations a temporary work contract for at least one year.