The employee representatives and Corporate Executive Board maintain close contact with each other.

Since 1996, Swiss Life has had a European Works Council (pursuant to EU Directives 94/45/EC and 2009/38/EC).

The ten-person “Europa Forum”, a committee comprising delegates from four countries, meets regularly with representatives of the Corporate Executive Board at ordinary and extraordinary meetings. It deals with transnational information and consultation on topics which affect all Swiss Life employees. The focal areas in 2019 were: HR strategy 2021, corporate culture, collaboration, people leadership, the 2019 Employee Survey and the new “Workday” HR management system.

At Swiss Life, collective bargaining takes place in the following countries and units on the basis of local laws (freedom of association and right to collective bargaining):

  • Swiss Life Germany
  • Swiss Life in France
  • Collective bargaining agreement for insurance companies at Swiss Life Asset Management GmbH and Swiss Life Invest GmbH in Germany
  • Swiss Life Luxembourg: The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2018 remained in force in 2019 and ends in 2020. Negotiations between the trade unions and insurance sector will start in the course of the coming year.
 
In addition, Swiss Life has local employee representation in numerous countries as legally required.

Agreements signed

 Number of Works Council members, broken down by full-time and part-time
Swiss Life Schweiz
  • The agreement concerning simplified recording of working hours, which entered into force on 1 April 2016, was formally confirmed at the annual review and will be continued.
  • In 2019 the staff committee was actively involved in designing the new “Workday” HR management system, especially with a view to employee experience, reporting, and the overviews of key performance indicators.
  • As part of the 2020 salary review, the staff committee made a formal application to the Executive Board for a salary increase.
  • The routine elections for the period 2020–2023 were held in autumn 2019. At the constitutive meeting in December, the chair and the delegates to the European Works Council were decided.
  • Based on the extended directive on protection of non-smokers, which came into effect on 1 January 2019, implementation of measures to protect non-smokers at both Zurich locations were monitored.
  • In 2019, the staff committee answered around 300 enquiries from employees.
  • Nine members; the chairwoman enjoys up to 20% work dispensation for work on the staff committee, the vice chairwoman up to 15% and the members up to 10%..

Agreements signed

 Number of Works Council members broken down by full-time and part-time

Swiss Life France
Elections to the staff council were held electronically in 
January 2019. A new business and social committee was established. It has four sub-committees: “Occupational health and working conditions”, “Business and strategy”, “Social affairs” and “Workplace learning”.

A specific training programme is available to enable the employee representatives to develop their competencies.

  • Three annual wage negotiations in 2019 (NAO): salary agreements
  • extension of the mobile office agreement
  • third agreement on the mandate of administrative employees
  • 22 regular members of the Economic and social committee, 30 hours per month
  • including one secretary (25 hours per month), an assistant secretary (15 hours per month)
  • a treasurer (15 hours per month) an assistant treasurer (5 hours per month)
  • 14 trade union delegates (24 hours per month)
  • 4 central delegates (26 hours per month)
  • three mediators, responsible for dealing with harassment/mobbing

SWISS LIFE ASSET MANAGERS France
The Adaptation Agreement (works agreement) which was signed unanimously following the merger, contains:

  • Amendment of working time regulations
  • Implementation of Home Office
  • Harmonisation of bonus and fringe benefits, profit sharing and employee savings plans, etc.
  • Employee referendum for the implementation of the agreement
  • Expansion of the Works Council
 
The following agreements have also been signed:
  • Adaptation agreement following the merger of 21 June 2019, followed by the employee referendum for implementation of the agreement
  • Agreement on additional Works Council elections on 3 July 2019
  • Pre-electoral agreement for the organisation of Works Council elections of 29 July 2019
  • Supplement to the profit sharing agreement of 28 June 2019
  • Supplement to the company savings plan in addition to the employer’s contribution of 16 April 2019
 Prior to the merger of 1 April 2019 between SWISS LIFE REIM (France) and Swiss Life Asset Management (France), there were three representative union organisations (CFDT, CFE-CGC and CFTC) with a total of 14 Works Council members, nine for SWISS LIFE REIM (France) and five for Swiss Life Asset Management (France).

Following the merger on 1 April 2019, a union organisation (CFDT) was established with eleven members of the Works Council in accordance with the agreement on the additional Works Council elections in July 2019. No employee representative carries out his/her activity full-time.

Agreements signed

 Number of Works Council members broken down by full-time and part-time, area of responsibility

Swiss Life Germany
The Works Council performs its duties through various committees in accordance with the local Works Constitution Act. To meet local requirements, various constructive works agreements have been concluded with management.

  • An extensive works agreement focuses on professional development, safeguarding knowledge management, defining training requirements and planning professional training
  • In cooperation with the HR department, in occupational health management, greater importance has been given to resilience and psychological stress at work
  • An extensive works agreement focuses on continuing professional development at Swiss Life, without restrictions on entitlement to training (age, gender, department)
  • The Works Council has responded to the new working requirements (workplaces and technology) through a works agreement on more flexible working.
  • The Central Works Council as the overarching body of all operations consists of five persons (two representatives of Works Council Internal Services, two representatives of Works Council Sales Force, 1 representative of the severely handicapped). The Central Works Council chair is also chair of the Works Council Internal Services, a member of the business committee and spokesperson for the European Works Council of Swiss Life Ltd.
  • The Works Council Internal Services (responsible for the German branch in Garching as well as Swiss Life Partner Service- und Finanzvermittlungs GmbH and SLPM Schweizer Leben PensionsManagement GmbH) is composed as follows: Eleven members, of whom the Works Council chair with 100%work dispensation for Works Council activities.
  • The Works Council Sales Force is responsible for intermediary distribution at the branch office and comprises five people, none of whom has dispensation.

Asset Managers Germany
Swiss Life Investment Management Deutschland Holding GmbH

  • Interim agreement during the project phase for the introduction of the «Workday» human resources management system  
 The members of the Works Council representing CORPUS SIREO Real Estate GmbH, Swiss Life Asset Management GmbH and Swiss Life Invest GmbH established a Group Works Council on 29 October 2019. In connection with the establishment of Swiss Life Investment Management Deutschland Holding GmbH, the aim of the Group Works Council is to define cross-company issues.
The Group Works Council has four members, who are appointed by the above works councils. One member of the works council at Corpus Sireo with 100% dispensation is also a member of the European Works Council.

Swiss Life Asset Management GmbH and Swiss Life Invest GmbH

  • Works agreement on whistleblowing (supplementary agreement to the Code of Conduct of the Swiss Life Group)
  • Calculation of variable compensation (bonus) for 2018
  • Basic salary adjustment process for non-management, non-pay-scale employees as at 1 April 2019
  • Occupational pension provisions through deferred compensa-tion (additional pension provision) including all additional benefit
  • Framework agreement on IT
  • Framework agreement on Office 365
  • Agreement on the use of the Rosetta Stone language course
 The Works Council of Swiss Life Management GmbH and Swiss Life Invest GmbH comprises three members. All members work without dispensation.

Corpus Sireo

  • Regulation concerning working hours at Corpus Sireo
  • Dealing with working time regulations from old contracts prior to 1 July 2017
  • Mobile working
  • Supplementary framework conditions for employment relationships at Corpus Sireo
  • Voluntary social security benefits – Spendit Card
  • MITE project time recording
  • Deployment and use of “Competence Booster” at Corpus Sireo
  • Company framework agreement on IT
 The Works Council of CORPUS SIREO Real Estate GmbH consists of eleven members, one member with 100% work dispensation (Works Council chair), all other members without dispensation.

Agreements signed

 Number of Works Council members, broken down by full-time and part-time, area of responsibility

Swiss Life Luxembourg
Elections were held in March 2019 and the newly elected staff committee started its work in April.

  • The new staff committee is continuing to concentrate on its key role in facilitating the flow of information between staff and the management in order to avoid potential conflicts.
  • Ensuring appropriate investment in the retraining of insurance workers and adapting skills to future workplace demands
 The number of employee representatives and the time required for their work are directly proportional to the number of employees. In the Global Solutions area in Luxembourg the future employee representation consists of five ordinary representatives and five deputies. The employee representatives have at their disposal 16 hours a week to exercise their mandate.
The Swiss Life Products (Luxembourg) S.A. team has reached the threshold of 15 employees and thus elected its own employee representation in 2019.
Asset Managers Luxembourg
The staff committee of Swiss Life Asset Managers Luxembourg was reelected in March 2019 and met four times in 2019. The staff committee meets the Executive Board every quarter. No formal agreements were reached between the staff committee and the Executive Board in 2019.
 The staff committee of Swiss Life Asset Managers Luxembourg consists of two active delegates, two deputy delegates and one security delegate. All delegates work without dispensation.

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