On November 1 and December 15, 2022 De Unie periodic consultations with Rabobank. The most important topics were the Development Budget, Grow!, the WFM and the pension choices.
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2023 Agenda
I, advocate Inge de Vries, have discussed with Rabobank and the other trade unions which topics we want to tackle in the coming year. We have chosen topics that may be important for the following collective bargaining negotiations:
- Improving the internal labor market
- Appreciate and reward
- Grow!
- Autonomy in your own work (particularly because of the complaints about WorkForceManagement)
- Financial self-sufficiency (related to high inflation)
- Rabobank's strategic position and its influence on employment conditions
You will be hearing more about these topics in the coming year. Some subjects are on the agenda in preparation for collective bargaining. Other subjects (financial self-sufficiency, autonomy in your own work) may be more urgent. If inflation remains this high, there will sooner be a need to make additional financial agreements with Rabobank. We receive many complaints from members who work at Daily Bank Affairs who cannot take leave and whose working day is planned from start to finish. They have no autonomy in their own work, while Rabobank states that autonomy and self-regulation are important bank values.
In this way we try to get more structure in the improvement of employment conditions and labor relations. Of course, this does not mean that other topics cannot be discussed. Both in the periodic consultations and in the collective bargaining negotiations, the members of De Unie which topics are important.
Periodic consultation report November and December 2022
Development budget
Rabobank indicates that the development budget is well used, but that it is not fully used by the employees. Because unused budgets expire, it is important to follow this topic closely.
Up to and including July 2022, 12.000 courses have been booked, of which 82% were within the catalogue. There were 3.000 applications outside the catalog and 2.000 were granted. 580 ABC applications were rejected and the remaining applications (approximately 400) were still in process.
The most common reasons for rejection of out-of-catalog requests are:
- 30% is withdrawn by the applicant himself
- 24% disagree because the application was submitted twice
- 14% did not meet tax requirements
- 10% is rejected because the training is in the catalog
- 8% is rejected because one or more alternatives are available within the catalogue
- 7% was rejected because the supplier does not agree (e.g. with Rabobank's payment terms)
The development budget is an employment condition from the collective labor agreement. For me it is important to know whether the members benefit from this arrangement. From time to time there are complaints from members because a request has been rejected. That is why this breakdown has been requested. There are also occasional complaints from members that they are being pressured to use the development budget while they themselves do not want to follow a course. I address Rabobank on this, because you should not be forced to follow a course, it is not always convenient. Rabobank confirms that employees should not be put under pressure to draw up the budget.
Grow!
Agreements have been made in the collective labor agreement to carry out the study into Grow! accelerated pick up. The aim was to work out the following matters before 1 January 2023:
- How does Grow! out without wrap up / assessment?
- What is an appropriate remuneration method that is not linked to an assessment?
- Exploring possibilities in which employees can be recognized and appreciated by colleagues and their manager in a flexible manner and at appropriate times, taking into account as much as possible different groups of employees and their needs.
The planned meetings of the study group have also been canceled by Rabobank in 2022. A bad start to our cooperation. We will discuss this further in January 2023.
WorkForceManagement
At De Unie many complaints are received from employees at Daily Bank Affairs who cannot take leave and whose working day is planned from start to finish. They have no autonomy in their own work. WorkForceManagement (WFM) is a tool in teams where it is used well and employees are satisfied. But there also seem to be teams where WFM is leading. Because Rabobank also wants to use WFM in other departments, it is important to agree preconditions with the employer regarding the use of WFM. Rabobank does not deny the identified problems. The works council also considers this an important subject. In January 2023, trade unions and the works council will discuss how we can strengthen each other.
Retirement Choices
In the new pension scheme you can choose whether to use the full personal contribution (5,5%) for your pension. Or that you have a part paid out so that you only save 3,5%.
More than 90% of the employees have made a choice. The members who found the information from Rabobank insufficient to make a choice were helped by the pensions department of De Unie.
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Contact
Do you have questions for us? The Service Center can be reached via: sc@unie.nl or by telephone on 0345-851 963.
