Blue Flash 08/2023

Aug 11, 20237 min read

Sector agreement in the banking sector - PC 310

Last April we submitted our requirements in the banking sector in the form of an attraction plan for the period 2023-2024.

We have now been able to conclude a mini sector agreement on July 3.

What does this mean?

Time credit and end-of-career: the social partners renewed the CLA that establishes the sectoral framework for lowering the age limit to 55 for access to end-of-career time credit.

Purchasing power: as Febelfin's mandate does not go beyond a recommendation for the sector, the social partners refer discussions to the company level. Companies that achieve good results will be able to conclude a collective bargaining agreement that grants a purchasing power premium.

Training

Grant of an individual right to 4 days of training in 2023 and 5 days in 2024: The right to training will apply to all companies in the sector, regardless of their size. All training days not used up by the end of the year will be carried over to the following year. The aim is that at the end of each 5-year period, full-time employees will have received an average of at least 5 training days per year. At the end of the 5-year period, the training credit is reset to zero. This point must be discussed regularly within the company (a training plan must be drawn up once a year).

Specific training programme: training will be extended to other topics such as innovation and entrepreneurship, diversity, artificial intelligence, data literacy and decoupling.

At-risk groups: the collective agreement regarding the deployment of 0.10% of the wage bill in favour of at-risk groups is extended for 2023-2024.

Societal challenges:

- Diversity and inclusion: in addition to existing initiatives in this area, there is a commitment to develop guidelines, actions and a code of conduct to promote the development of a diversity and inclusion policy at the level of each company. A diversity policy should be subject to social consultation to ensure that the workplace reflects society. The agreement provides for monitoring progress for improvement.

- Sustainability: we encourage companies to become more sustainable and advocate dialogue on this within companies. This includes a corporate debate on sustainable mobility.

- Innovation: a social dialogue on the introduction of new technologies and their potential impact on employment should take place at company level. A debate should be held on employment prospects, employment structure, work organisation, working conditions, health and safety of workers, etc.

- Workable work: the social partners undertook to organise a study day and discussion on the possibilities of organising work over 4 days a week or on an alternate basis.

Vossco News: Vitality Program 2023 – Pilot – 1st evaluation and decisions:

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano is an often used quote from one of the satires (Satire X) by the Roman poet Juvenal.

However, the full sentence reads: Orandum est ut it sit mens sana in corpore sano which means “one should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body”.

In April of this year, the first talks were started with all trade unions for offering a completely new "Well Be" program where funding would come from Vossco's reserves. The total cost was estimated at 7,000,000 (when using full capacity) euros for the years 2023-2024-2025.

The program is a joint effort Vossco-ING, that is to say, ING will reduce its allocations to Vossco by the same amount over the next 3 years to finance this program. Vossco will therefore have to draw more from its reserves to cover all other current expenses.

In total there is room for 5500 employees to participate in this program spread over the coming years.

The program offers a trajectory in 4 major domains with the aim of boosting:

Physical Energy – Mental Energy – Emotional Energy – Spiritual Energy.

A first pilot was launched in June with an available capacity of 300 seats.

The Pilot's initial findings have meanwhile been discussed in the Vossco Board of Directors and General Assembly.

We will give you the most important points here:

-> 2933 people opened the scan (cumulative possible)

-> 1712 have started the scan.

-> 1049 have completed the scan. (= Participation 62%)

-> 213 people eventually signed up. However, there were 300 available seats.

->101 people completed the journey.

From the findings of the Energy Scan where an average score of 5.69/10 is achieved, it is clear that there is a worrying situation within ING that offers a program that focuses on boosting the well-being of employees justifies.

We also note that at the start there is a high interest - 2933 consultations - for the Vitality program among the employees.

On the other hand, only 101 people ended up completing the entire journey.

An explanation for this is, on the one hand, the rapid start-up of the program and the timing in June (engaged, end of school year…). On the other hand, the group sessions were planned in Brussels and mainly in English. The limited capacity of the pilot (300 available seats) was also a brake on the number of participations. Finally, candidates were spread over the available modules to ensure optimal utilization of the pilot. (For evaluation purposes). As a result, some candidates were not given their first choice. This will not happen again in the future.

From September it will be possible to register again for this program with a start in October. The offer will be extended to Louvain-La-Neuve and Ghent and the sessions will be given in French and Dutch. The dates of the sessions that will be organized will be known earlier.

The capacity will be increased to 750 available places for this 2nd wave until the end of this year. For 2024 and 2025, there will be 2400 available places each time.

The ACLVB/CGSLB approved the continuation of the Vitality Program in both the Board of Directors and the General Meeting of Vossco, taking into account the points for improvement discussed in the AV and the Board of Directors and will be implemented from September to ensure higher successful participation.

Happy Holidays (Right to Disconnect)

The holiday season is already halfway over. Is your need for vacation stronger than ever? Then that is quite normal, it has been a difficult period. Not only did we see the boundary between work and private life change into a dotted line in our home office.

Did you know that those who go on holiday every year are up to a third less likely to suffer from burnout, depression or cardiovascular disease? Your brain needs time to rest. So taking a leave of absence is not only fun, but also necessary: and it is only a real holiday if you completely 'disconnect'.

The ACLVB/CGSLB team wish you a fantastic holiday!

If you already need to plan your holiday for 2024, you will find our handy holiday planner for next year below (F/NL)

“This is no longer a myth (free vision, own voice).”

Zeus had the god of the forge Hephaestos make a woman from earth and water, Pandora. Epimetheus and Pandora received a pithos (container) as a wedding present. It contained all the misfortunes of the world. They wouldn't be able to escape unless the barrel was opened. This jar contained all the evils and misfortunes of mankind: sickness (burnout staff), pride, madness, passion and deceit (direction), ...

But Pandora was curious and opened the barrel. All the doom and drool escaped. She quickly closed the barrel again, but it was too late. When the barrel closed again, there was only hope left.

Was it better to remain in ignorance and carelessness and not open our eyes to the contents of the dowry of the god of Finance, to the turn of events that would take after the marriage between ING and BBL?

Or has curiosity, welcome this time, enabled us to take a critical look and analyze the effects of coexistence between ING Netherlands and ING Belgium over time, to understand the problems and protect ourselves from the unfortunate consequences?

Bereft of its finest possessions, many of BBL's crown jewels first flew to Amsterdam (arbitrage products, etc.) or were sold to the highest bidder (BBL France, Selfbanks , safes, etc.). And just like in a marriage where tensions worsen, the sale of hard-won heritage has accelerated (SMW, Place Royale, offices, etc.) in an effort to quickly reap the benefits.

As the gods of Greek mythology continue to thirst for more and more power, they invented Social Dumping, a new god emerging from the thigh of Jupiter: how the laws of To circumvent Olympus, to further establish one's power and increase one's wealth, if not by saving on the backs of the workers, by outsourcing many services to the Earth Goddess they control? First in Europe (Poland, Portugal...), figure of the renewed Earth Goddess, then far beyond (Manila...), since the gods and their riches know no bounds.

It is difficult to estimate the number of people employed abroad by the Group, who are gradually replacing the active workers in Belgium, but also in the Netherlands because of of easy profits, at the expense of employee welfare, discounted pay and all relative social security abroad.

By doing this, beneficiaries of reduced services and laborers risk turning each day more and more away from these gods of Olympus, for lack of attention, or simply to avoid the terrible punishment of Sisiphus who, by his excessive insight, annoyed the gods, who condemned him to push a stone to the top of a mountain , from where he always falls down, causing despondency, discouragement and fatigue. However, we cannot require everyone to shoot targets, as Hercules might do.

Will Pandora one day manage to free the goddess Hope, who is currently trapped in the jar? We wish her all the best, and especially her employees who have served her so well and deserve a better and more peaceful future than a way out by mutual agreement or breach of contract by the employer!