The employee-employer relationship at Swiss Life is characterised by close contact between employee representatives and the Group Executive Board.

The employee-employer relationship at Swiss Life is characterised by close contact between employee representatives and the Corporate Executive Board. 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 five 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 points for 2024 were the “Swiss Life 2024” Group-wide programme, mental and physical health in the workplace and dealing with stress. The focus was on professional development in the sense of “lifelong learning” as well as on revising the Group Performance System.

Rights of association and the right to collective bargaining are guaranteed by local legislation (EU Charter Art. 12, Swiss Federal Constitution Art. 23); they form the basis for internal guidelines. Collective bargaining agreements and internal regulations exist in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria.

Swiss Life in Switzerland

Agreements signed

  • The continuation of the agreement concerning simplified recording of working hours, which entered into force on 1 April 2016, was formally confirmed at the annual review.
  • The staff committee was involved in all the topics listed in the regulations. Particularly on the topic of working conditions and office design, an exchange took place between employee and employer representatives.
  • As part of the 2024 salary review, the staff committee made a formal application to the Executive Board for a payroll increase.
  • In 2024, the staff committee answered around 300 enquiries from employees.
  • The staff committee has expanded its discount offering for employees. Employees in Switzerland can benefit from an expanded range of discounted products and services via the benefitsatwork.ch platform.
  • The staff committee members elected in 2023 began their four-year term of office in 2024.

Number of members of the staff committee, dispensation for work on the staff committee and area of responsibility

Nine members; the chairperson enjoys up to 20% work dispensation for work on the staff committee, the vice chairperson up to 15% and the members up to 10%.

Swiss Life in France

 

Agreements signed


The new staff representatives were elected by electronic vote in March 2023. A new Business and Social Committee was established, consisting of four subcommittees: “Health and safety in the workplace”, “Business and strategy”, “Social affairs” and “Employment and training”. Elections are held every four years.

 

  • A specific training programme is available to enable the representatives to develop their skills
  • An agreement on the mandate of administrative employees
  • A one-year extension of the profit-sharing agreement

As part of the annual negotiations, agreements were not concluded. A unilateral decision was implemented and the main subjects were:

Job and career management

  • Individual increase measures
  • Part-time employment to achieve a better work-life balance, part-time work at the end of employees’ careers

Number of works council members, dispensation for works council activities and area of responsibility

  • 24 full members of the Economic and Social Committee, each with 30 hours per month, including a secretary with 25 hours per month and an assistant secretary with 15 hours per month
  • A cashier with 15 hours per month and a cashier's assistant with five hours per month
  • Four central delegates, each with 26 hours per month
  • Four mediators responsible for cases of harassment or sexist statements

Tariff contracts

100% of employees are subject to a tariff contract. 

Swiss Life Asset Managers in France

Agreements signed

Three agreements were concluded:

  • Profit-sharing agreement for 2024-2025-2026
  • Amendment No. 1 PERECO signed 8, April 2024 relating to the Collective Retirement Savings Plan
  • Amendment No. 1 PEE signed 8, April 2024 relating to the Employee Savings Plan

Number of works council members, dispensation for committee work and area of responsibility

Works council elections for a four-year term were held in April 2022. The works council consists of eleven full members and nine deputies. Two works council representatives sit on the company’s Supervisory Board.

Works council representatives are allocated a certain number of hours to enable them to carry out their duties properly. Time spent in meetings organised by the employer does not affect these hours. The total number of hours of all works council members spent on works council activities can be up to 222 per month. Full members decide how these total hours are to be divided between all the elected members. Up to 33 hours per month are allocated to a full member. The trade union representative's time quota is 18 hours per month.

Tariff contracts

100% of employees are subject to collective agreements.

Swiss Life in Germany

Swiss Life Germany: Swiss Life Lebensversicherung SE, Swiss Life branch for Germany, Swiss Life Partner Service- und Finanzvermittlungs- GmbH and SLPM Schweizer Leben PensionsManagement GmbH

Signed Agreements

  • The works council performs its duties in accordance with the local Works Constitution Act.
  • In 2024, the focus was on changing the corporate form from a public limited company to a Societas Europaea (SE).
  • The Swiss Life Group’s core business in Germany has so far been mainly conducted by the German branch of Swiss Life AG (Swiss public limited company). Other Group companies also have a German legal form. , almost all assets and operating resources attributable to the insurance business of the German branch of Swiss Life AG were transferred to “Swiss Life Lebensversicherung SE” as part of a transfer of business on 31 August 2024.
  • A works agreement on safeguarding the future was concluded for this business transfer. The provisions include the avoidance of company-related redundancies until 2030, the continuation of all existing works agreements and the continuation of collective bargaining coverage.
  • Following the transfer of business, a participation procedure was initiated in accordance with §§ 4 et seq. of the German SE Participation Act (SEBG) to reach an agreement on the participation of employees in the SE. This resulted in the formation of a new body, the SE works council.
  • The existing process of setting individual targets, assessing potential and appraising the skills/performance of employees was also extensively revised.
  • The existing works agreement for annual employee target setting and achievement has been completely revised and will be tested by all employees in the new format for 2025. Teams will define and evaluate common targets and set priorities in workshops – depending on the team and its tasks, individual targets can also be set in addition to the team targets. At the same time, more space, time and focus will be dedicated to development dialogues. Two works agreements were concluded for this purpose.
  • In the area of health, the health team has placed the special topic of “gut health” and all topics related to preventative measuresat the centre of occupational health management with extensive campaigns. Online presentations and a live event “BR on air” were once again held this year.

Number of works council members, dispensation for works council activities and area of responsibility

  • The Central Works Council, the highest body representing all locations, has four members (two representatives from the Internal Services Works Council and two representatives from the Sales Force Works Council; one representative from the Internal Services Works Council is also the representative for employees with disabilities).
  • The chairwoman of the Central Works Council is also the chair of the Works Council Internal Services and chair of the works council of Swiss Life Lebensversicherung SE as well as being a member of the Business Committee and spokesperson/chair of the Europa Forum.
  • The branch office works council has 13 members. The works council chair has a 100% work dispensation for works council activities.
  • The Sales Force Works Council is responsible for intermediary sales staff at the branch office and comprises five people, none of whom have a dispensation.

 

Tariff contracts

56% of employees are subject to a tariff contract.
100% of employees are subject to the works agreements. Only executive employees are excluded.

Swiss Life Asset Managers GmbH in Germany

Works council of SL AM GmbH (SL AM)

Scheduled works council elections were held at Swiss Life Asset Managers Deutschland GmbH on 13 January 2022, during which a new works council was elected. The works council of Swiss Life Asset Managers GmbH currently consists of eleven members. The current chairwoman has a 100% work dispensation for her works council activities and is also deputy chairwoman of the Group works council. The works council of Swiss Life Asset Managers GmbH is, by members, the Group’s largest co-determination committee at Germany level.

Group works council

Due to its formal responsibility, 90% of issues relevant to co-determination are addressed to the Group works council. The negotiating mandate includes regulations for all cross-company issues (e.g. collective compensation, mobile working, benefits). The committee consists of delegates from the works councils of the companies KVG and SL AM Germany. The Group works council in its current constellation took up its duties on 17 May 2023. The chairman of the Group works council is also the chairman of the KVG works council and has 95% dispensation for both works council activities. The committee consists of four members and a permanent advisor from the works council of the Germany branch of SL AM Luxembourg. The Group works council also holds the annual Group works council meeting, which is moderated by the chairman and the deputy.

Works council of the KVG (capital management company)

The KVG works council was established in spring 2022 and consists of three members. Due to the special nature of KVG regulation, issues relevant to co-determination here are closely coordinated with Compliance and Risk. Overarching issues in its scope of responsibility are referred by the KVG works council to the Group works council as part of the negotiating mandate.

Tariff contracts

The tariff contract was terminated on 31 December 2021. All employees who joined the organisation in 2022 are not subject to any tariff regulations. A small group of employees are subject to the retroactive effect of the tariff contract in accordance with § 4, cl. 5 of the Collective Agreements Act . The still pending workplace regulations giving rise to this retroactive effect are to be terminated with effect of 31 December 2024. Most of the employment contracts have now been transferred to Swiss Life Asset Managers GmbH, thus officially ending the retroactive effect.

Swiss Life in Luxembourg

Agreements signed

The tariff contract signed by the employer representatives of the insurance sector and all major trade unions in Luxembourg has been renewed for a 3-years period running from 2024 to 2027. It largely follows on from the previous agreement adding some additional features in terms of mandatory training on prevention of psychological risks and strengthening of the role of the health delegate, allocating him/her a time credit to perform his/her tasks.

Number of works council members, dispensation for committee work and area of responsibility

The number of employee representatives and the time required for their work is directly proportional to the number of employees. In the Global Solutions area in Luxembourg the employee representation consists of five ordinary representatives and five deputies. At Swiss Life Products, the employee representation consists of one ordinary representative and one deputy. The employee representatives are entitled to devote 16 hours a week to exercising their mandate.

Tariff contracts

63% of employees are subject to a tariff contract.

Swiss Life Asset Managers in Luxembourg
The staff committee of Swiss Life Asset Managers Luxembourg was newly elected in March 2024. Quarterly meetings are held with the Executive Board. No formal agreements were reached between the staff committee and the Executive Board in 2024.

Number of works council members, dispensation for committee work and area of responsibility

The staff committee of Swiss Life Asset Managers Luxembourg consists of four active delegates, four deputy delegates and one security delegate.

All delegates work without dispensation.

elipsLife Netherlands

Agreements signed

There is an industry tariff contract that applies to all employees within elipsLife Netherlands. The works council meets with the employer at least four times a year. In 2024, In 2024, projects completed touched upon new Target Operating Models in Finance and IT following up on the integration with Swiss Life, as well as Performance Dialogues. Negotiations on the renewal of the tariff contract generally take place in October.

Number of works council members, dispensation for works council activities and area of responsibility

The size of the works council depends on the number of employees. It currently consists of seven members.

elipsLife Italy

elipsLife Italy is a member of the ANIA trade association (Associazione nazionale fra le imprese assicuratrici), which includes most Italian insurance companies. As such, employees are covered by respective national collective agreements regulating such aspects as notice periods, compensation, working time, absences, benefits etc. in complement to the national civil code. They are distributed as below:

  • “Impiegati”, operational employees (currently 3 employees), are covered by the NCA renewed on 16/11/22
    “Funzionari”, expert employees/middle managers (currently 19 employees), are also covered by the NCA renewed on 16/11/22 completed by specific provisions
    “Dirigenti”, executives (currently 5 employees), are covered by the NCA renewed on 02/07/2017