The electricity price brake will expire shortly. With its end, the so-called bonus ban will also no longer apply, according to a media report. Board members can be happy.
Large corporations such as Deutsche Bahn will be able to pay out bonuses to their management in the new year due to the electricity price cap. With the end of the electricity price cap, the so-called bonus ban will no longer apply, as can be seen from a report by “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, NDR and WDR.
The bonus ban applied in 2023 to companies based in Germany that received more than 25 million euros from the electricity price cap. Since the price cap expires at the end of the year, the bonus ban will also be lifted.
The ban affected additional remuneration that applies to 2023. In addition, bonuses for previous years were not allowed to be paid out in 2023. Because the railway took advantage of the electricity price brake, the board members of Deutsche Bahn have not yet received their additional remuneration. In addition to DB, only a few companies in Germany are likely to be affected.
It is certain that the railway will actually pay out the variable remuneration. “This is a legacy from 2022. It is a legal situation that is no longer being discussed in the supervisory board,” said the deputy chairman of the supervisory board, Martin Burkert, who is also head of the railway and transport union EVG, to the German Press Agency. A new compensation system was approved by the Supervisory Board a few months ago.
According to the annual report for 2022, Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz will receive a bonus of more than 1.26 million euros. Infrastructure director Berthold Huber will receive 699,000 euros in “variable remuneration”, as the bonus is called at the railway. Human resources director Martin Seiler, who is currently negotiating new collective agreements with the train drivers’ union GDL, will receive an additional 736,000 euros.
Compared to manager salaries in other industries, the remuneration for DB board members is rather low. Railway boss Lutz comes to a total of 2.24 million euros including bonuses for 2022. In the automotive industry, managing directors receive many times as much. At the most recent supervisory board meeting in September, the railway decided on a new compensation system that is more focused on long-term success.
Source: Stern
