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De Unie remains committed to a fair collective labor agreement for all employees.
In preparation for the collective labor agreement negotiations, we have sent out several surveys on topics suggested by our members. Surveys have been sent out on reward systems, workload, and training and development opportunities. You can still fill out the last one here until August 18. Are you curious about the responses to the questions about the remuneration system? Then read on below.
The survey on discretionary increases based on performance and salary increases during development steps
In the previous collective labor agreement, agreements were made regarding budgets for discretionary increases based on performance and salary increases during development steps. You can read here what was specifically agreed upon. We asked ING employees about the application of these expanded budgets. The quantitative answers from our respondents can be found here. Our findings are outlined below.
The current discretionary increase
At present, the fixed in-scale increase at ING is only 2% or 1%, depending on whether you are below or above the midpoint of your salary scale. Additionally, you can receive an individual discretionary increase based on your performance. The fixed-scale increase was reduced during the previous collective labor agreement negotiations. Before that, the scale increase varied between 1.5%, 2%, and 3%, depending on your scale position. ING indicated during the reduction of the fixed-scale increase that they would double the budgets for discretionary authority, allowing for more performance-based rewards. We asked employees about their experiences with this new system.
What do employees think of the current remuneration system?
The survey shows that:
- 77% of respondents find the link between rewards and personal performance important.
- 71% of respondents indicate dissatisfaction with the way ING currently implements this link. Compared to the current situation, they prefer a higher fixed individual increase without a link to personal performance.
- Only 33% of respondents indicate having received a discretionary increase.
- Of those who received an increase, nearly 48% reported that it was 1% or less.
- The majority of employees find the method of granting discretionary authority unsatisfactory; only 19% rated it as good or very good.
From the open comments, it can be inferred that:
There is particular criticism of the lack of transparency regarding the conditions for granting increases, the final method of allocation, and the available budget. Frequent criticism is expressed about the amount of the increase and the subjectivity involved in awarding the increase. We also received feedback indicating that leads are not given enough room to allocate the budget based on the performance of all team members, or that it is not possible to deviate from an average increase because “too many members in a team perform well.” Suggestions are also made to set up an employee stock plan as a reward, similar to ASR.
How is the reward system arranged at other financial institutions?
The scale minimum and maximum per salary scale are approximately equal at financial institutions. The scale minimum starts at about 70% of the scale maximum. All financial institutions grant an annual individual salary increase until the employee reaches their scale maximum.
At ING, some positions are divided into different levels. These junior, medior, or senior levels fall into different salary scales, which also affects how long it takes to reach the maximum salary for your position. At other financial institutions, the distinctive levels are considered different functions.
Rabobank
- There is an annual individual salary increase linked to the assessment. This is: 5% of the salary for an exceptionally good year, 2.5% for a successful year, 0% if improvement is needed.
ABN Amro
- There is a fixed periodic increase of 2.5% of the salary regardless of the position in the scale or performance.
- There is an annual performance bonus that depends on performance. This varies between 2.5% and 5%, depending on whether performance is simply good or above average. You are not entitled to it if you underperform.
- This performance bonus is a one-time payment at the end of each year.
- It is also available to employees at the end of their scale.
NN
Employees receive an annual individual salary increase. The amount of the salary adjustment depends on the scale position and the assessment. Employees in the lower half of the salary scale generally receive an increase of 3.5% of the salary, while those in the upper half generally receive an increase of 2.5%. The assessment may lead to deviation from the 3.5% or 2.5%.
ASR
There is an annual fixed periodic increase of 3% of the scale maximum.
Achmea
There is an annual fixed periodic increase of 1/10 of the difference between the scale minimum and maximum.
Applying these rules, in the case of normal performance, leads to the following salary development at these companies for someone starting at 70% of the scale (at the bottom).
After five years, you receive a salary increase of over 21% at Achmea and ASR. ING performs the worst by far, with a salary increase of barely 10% compared to the start. At ING, it takes as long as 26 years to grow from the scale minimum to the scale maximum. For comparison, it takes 10 years at Achmea and ASR.
The salary increase during development steps
To stimulate internal mobility, new agreements have been made in the current collective labor agreement regarding salary increases when changing positions. When starting a new position in a higher job scale, you receive a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 12% increase (Article 4.9.1. ING CAO). In the previous collective labor agreement, this was between 2.5% and 5% (Article 4.11.1 ING CAO 21/22). If you start a new position that is classified in the same job scale as your current position, your salary is increased by a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 6% (Article 4.9.3. ING CAO). In the previous collective labor agreement, you moved horizontally, meaning your salary remained the same unless it was lower than the lower limit of the salary scale for your new position.
What are employees’ experiences with these adjustments?
Regarding the expanded salary increases during development steps, 12% of employees experienced an improvement. The majority (37%) noticed no difference, and 41% had no experience or opinion on this.
We cannot draw clear conclusions from the responses to the question about the amount of increases because the conditionality of the survey questions was not well structured. Respondents who did not make a development step also had to indicate how much increase they received.
In general, people are positive about receiving an increase when making a development step, and it is indicated that it motivates development. We received several points of attention in the open comments field. The most notable and recurring responses are:
- Lack of transparency.
- Remove subjectivity and agree on fixed percentages, no bandwidths.
- There is uncertainty about when a new position is considered.
- A discussion about the changed employment conditions during a development step should be a standard part of the process.
What next?
During the last collective labor agreement negotiations, ING implemented several changes regarding individual salary increases. These changes have not all proven to be improvements. The salary increase during development steps has been well received, but there are still some improvements to be made in the process.
However, ING now has the lowest individual salary adjustment among all financial institutions. The doubling of discretionary space does not compensate for this. Employees are dissatisfied with the lack of transparency in discretionary allocation. De Unie sees several improvement possibilities. We can propose increasing the individual salary adjustment to a market-compliant level. Making the assessment process more transparent will also lead to improvements. We would like to discuss this with ING.
Encourage Your Colleagues to Participate
The more employees fill out the survey, the better De Unie can indicate to ING how the CLA can be adjusted in the area of training and development. Therefore, forward this message to your colleagues and ask them to complete the survey. De Unie handles the information confidentially.
Always be the first to know! Sign up directly for our WhatsApp group “De Unie @ ING”, and we will keep you up to date with the latest news through this channel. Signing up is very easy.
Contact
Do you have questions about this message? If so, please contact me. This can be done by sending an e-mail to: mandy.raaijmakers@unie.nl or inge.de.vries@unie.nl
