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Deutsche Post AG Generations Pact breaks 20,000 mark

More than 3,200 employees in partial retirement Generations Pact counteracts the effects of demographic change As of September 2015, 20,000 employees of Deutsche Post AG have joined the Generations Pact and opened so-called working-time accounts. This allows them to prepare in advance for partial retirement at the age of 59. To date more than 3,200 … Continued

  • More than 3,200 employees in partial retirement
  • Generations Pact counteracts the effects of demographic change

As of September 2015, 20,000 employees of Deutsche Post AG have joined the Generations Pact and opened so-called working-time accounts. This allows them to prepare in advance for partial retirement at the age of 59. To date more than 3,200 employees are in partial retirement, having reduced their working hours by half. They receive between 79 and 87 percent of their previous net salary over the course of the partial retirement period. Introduced in 2011, this partial retirement model is financed through payments the employees make into their working-time accounts, subsidies paid by Deutsche Post as well as solidarity financing from a demography fund.

“The success of the Generations Pact has exceeded all our expectations,” explains Melanie Kreis, Board Member for Human Resources. “With over 20,000 employees taking part in the program, our staff obviously sees it as an attractive way to shape the final phase of their careers. The program makes us a more attractive employer, allows us to retain our older employees and benefit from their expertise and, in turn, mitigate the effects of demographic change.”

In principle, all employees with unlimited contracts based on the Deutsche Post AG framework agreement may take part in the Generations Pact and open a working-time account. The program was designed primarily for employees with physically demanding jobs, such as mail and parcel carriers. Many older employees in particular would like to continue working, though often on reduced schedules in the final phase of their careers. The Generations Pact, which provides for partial retirement that reduces working hours by half, makes this possible. As a result, before reaching full retirement age, employees are released from duty based on the credit balance saved in the working-time account. Younger staff members can benefit from this program, too. For example, they can use their working-time accounts to finance a sabbatical or extend parental leave. The youngest employee to open a working-time account in 2015 was born in 1994.

In order to go into partial retirement, employees may contribute up to 30 percent of their fixed salary and variable remuneration components into a working-time account. These payments are converted into so-called credit points. If at age 59 an employee has saved 55 credit points, he or she may go into partial retirement. Deutsche Post AG subsidizes this by increasing the employee’s partial retirement salary to 78% of the previous net salary. Furthermore, the Group pays 200 euros per employee into a demography fund, which is used to increase partial retirement pay further and regardless of income level so that partial retirees receive between 79 and 87 percent of their previous net salary.

The Generations Pact is a unique, nationwide program in Germany to shape and enable age-based working solutions. In 2013, it was awarded the German Industry Innovation Award (Innovationspreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft).

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