De Unie regularly consults with Rabobank about current affairs and the development of study agreements. The periodic consultations are also used to prepare for the next collective bargaining negotiations and to deal with questions from members.
The schedule issues were the main topic on the periodic consultation agenda of May 15, 2023. But we also discussed the development budget and the preparation of the pension negotiations.
Development budget
In the year 2022, employees have booked 25 million training courses. Approximately 12.500 employees used their training budget. The other employees save their budget for a while. It is important to keep an eye on that your budget does not expire. The development budget may be saved for a maximum of 3 years, after which the oldest budget part expires. In 2022, a budget of 6,5 million euros will expire, which concerns approximately 8.000 employees.
Pension working group
The pension working group meets twice a week. We are still preparing. The new legislation is still pending in parliament. In addition to the technical working group, which prepares the negotiations, a great deal of attention is also paid to communication. There is a separate communication working group in which trade unions, the pension fund and the employer work together. Goal of De Unie is to ensure that employees are well-informed in good time so that our members can really contribute ideas and make decisions.
Schedule problem
By De Unie a study was conducted on the experiences with scheduling with the scheduling system Workforce Management (WFM). This research was intended as preparation for the consultation with Maarten Kolkman on this subject. The conversation has yielded new insights.
For example, Mr. Kolkman indicated that:
- someone who has a calamity must always be able to take calamity leave;
- someone who is free is really free. You don't have to check the app regularly to see if your schedule has changed.
In the survey of De Unie several employees indicated that if they want to take emergency leave, this is only possible if they provide replacement themselves. This is therefore not the working method that Rabobank advocates. Perhaps this is a support for employees if they unexpectedly have to deal with a calamity. The same applies if you are free, your manager cannot expect you to keep an eye on your app. Rabobank's starting point is: free = free.
We have discussed several other topics that need further exploration or discussion.
- It has been agreed at DBZ that employees work 50% of their time in the banking hall. A common complaint in our research was that people were allowed to work considerably less in the banking hall. According to Rabobank, everyone at DBZ is scheduled for an average of 50% in the banking hall. However, this can also be calculated over a longer period. Here the images of Rabobank deviate from the image that De Unie of the employees. We will have to investigate this further.
- This also applies to holiday planning. The image of Rabobank is that the possibility to take leave for a period of 2 to 3 weeks is locked in order to be able to distribute the summer holidays properly. That is not what was entered in the survey. On this subject it should be possible to improve the practical application.
- Adhearance is the extent to which you work according to schedule. In the survey, various employees stated that the adhearance is experienced as very burdensome and also as an obstacle to the normal performance of the work. For Rabobank, adherence is a method of managing over a longer period of time. The image that the employees give differs strongly from that of Rabobank says it wants to achieve with adherence. This part of working with schedules also needs to be improved.
The subject of scheduling problems will therefore have a follow-up, it must be possible to make improvements for the employees.
You can check the results of the survey here .
Next consultation
The next periodic consultation is on July 4, 2023. Many appointments have been scheduled in June to discuss pension.
Opinion and contact
Do you have questions or comments about the newsletter? Please contact the representative Inge de Vries via inge.de.vries@unie.nl and/or 06-5252 2091. If you have an individual question or need advice, please contact our Service Center at sc@unie.nl or by phone on 0345-851 963. We are happy to advise you!
