Until now, VW employees could choose whether they would rather have more money or more vacation. As part of its austerity measures, VW is temporarily removing the option to choose.
Because of the austerity measures, Volkswagen is removing the opportunity for employees to choose between days off and a wage supplement. A spokeswoman confirmed that in this and the following two years there will no longer be any possibility of having the additional remuneration paid out. Instead, all collective bargaining employees received six additional days off. This was agreed with IG Metall as part of the efficiency improvement program for the VW core brand announced last year. Business Insider had previously reported.
According to the works council, around half of the VW workforce has already decided to take days off and forego the additional pay. This is now mandatory for three years. The opportunity to flexibly choose between bonuses and days off was created for all collectively agreed employees at VW in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement. Previously this only applied to certain employees.
Works council boss Daniela Cavallo regretted the restriction. “This is a step backwards,” she said in a special edition of the works council magazine “Mitdeterminen”. “But we think this is a viable option.” This could avoid cuts in wages.
In December, VW agreed with the works council on the key points of an efficiency improvement program. Personnel costs in the administrative area should decrease by 20 percent. There should be no redundancies for operational reasons.
Source: Stern
