Jan 10, 2024 at 5:03 am
Between 3 and 3.5 million employees received a one-off benefit in addition to a significant wage increase last year. This concerns an average amount of 946 euros gross, almost twice as much as in 2021.
Companies are trying to retain their staff in this way due to the tightness on the labor market. The one-off payment is also intended to compensate employees for the loss of purchasing power due to the sky-high inflation of recent years.
There has been an increasing trend since 2021, according to figures from employers’ association AWVN. Two years ago, employees received an average one-off gross bonus of 500 euros. Last year that was 664 euros.
This concerns additional remuneration that was agreed during negotiations on a new collective labor agreement. “There was a strong upward trend, especially at the beginning of last year, but the question is whether that will continue this year,” says a spokesperson for AWVN. “We see inflation coming down, so it won’t be with the same enthusiasm.”
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Also rewards outside the collective labor agreement
According to AWVN, the average amount of one-off benefits may even be higher, as many companies compensate their employees unilaterally. This means that this happens outside the collective labor agreement negotiations.
For example, 28,000 Rabobank employees will receive a significant income improvement during the current collective labor agreement, which runs until July 1, 2024. In December they received a one-off payment of 2,500 euros gross. And in April wages will increase by an additional 5.5 percent.
‘Wage increases remain at a high level’
Economist Aggie van Huisseling of ABN AMRO emphasizes that two developments are visible. “The tightness on the labor market and high inflation have resulted in collective labor agreements being concluded with a shorter term and with more one-off benefits.”
Van Huisseling expects wage increases to remain at a high level for the time being. “We assume an average collective labor agreement wage increase of 5.2 percent for this year and 4.5 percent for 2025. Employees have a better negotiating position because of the tightness on the labor market. In addition, companies want to retain their staff.”
‘Too good to refuse’
Vice-chairman Zakaria Boufangacha of the FNV trade union welcomes the fact that employees are increasingly receiving a one-off benefit. “People like to receive a large amount in one go. Lately it has been amounts of 1,000 or 2,000 euros. That is of course too good to refuse.”
Boufangacha emphasizes that the union is going for a structural wage increase at the collective labor agreement tables. For this collective labor agreement season, the wage requirement is between 5 and 14 percent. “But we increasingly see that employers want to make the collective labor agreement more attractive with a large one-off payment. In this way they also try to repair the gap in purchasing power.”
2024-01-10 04:03:09
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