Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure DE-2020-38/1448 – Updated – measures in Germany
Country | Germany , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 18 September 2020 – 28 February 2023 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Bipartite collective agreements |
Category |
Income protection beyond short-time work
– Support for parents and carers (financial or in kind) |
Author | Birgit Kraemer (Hans Boeckler Foundation) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 23 November 2020 (updated 08 November 2023) |
German Railway (Deutsche Bahn) and the sectoral trade union EVG (Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft) reached a new collective agreement in September 2020, which is valid from March 2021 until the end of February 2023. EVG represents staff in German Rail administration, engine drivers and staff on trains. A second sectoral trade union for German railway, GDL (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer), rejected the agreement and proposed a separate agreement for engine drivers und staff on trains.
The agreement includes a so called corona package in preparation of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with renewed lockdowns and social distancing measures. This corona package concerns employees with dependent children or otherwise caring for family members, including parents. Employees may stay away from work for up to fifty days due to childcare duties, and for up to 20 days due to other care duties. Other parts of the agreement concern wages (pay rise of 1.5% from January 2022), job protection (no forced redundancies for the time of the agreement), and recruitment (at least 18,000 new recruitments each in 2021 and 2022, including over 4,000 apprentices each year).
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
28 August 2023 |
A new collective agreement was concluded as of 28 August 2023. |
28 February 2023 |
The collective bargaining agreement to address the Corona crisis expired on 28 February 2023. |
No data.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Employees in standard employment
|
Sector specific set of companies
|
Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
Social partners jointly
|
No special funding required
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
(1) The institutional setting for the German railway sector requests the involvement of employer and employee representatives. (2) The large sectoral employer Detusche Bahn was involved. The sectoral trade union EVG was involved. The sectoral trade union GDL was not involved. (3) Employees contribute by renouncing a pay rise until the year 2021. Employers contribute by refraining from forced redundancies for the duration of the CBA.
The employer, Deutsche Bahn, and the trade union EVG welcome the agreement as an example of joint responsibility for the cost of the Covid-19 crisis. A second sectoral trade union for German railway, GDL (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer), rejected the agreement and proposed a separate agreement for engine drivers und staff on trains
This case is sector-specific
Economic area | Sector (NACE level 2) |
---|---|
H - Transportation And Storage | H49 Land transport and transport via pipelines |
This case is not occupation-specific.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), German Railways (DB) collective agreement 'Corona package', measure DE-2020-38/1448 (measures in Germany), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/DE-2020-38_1448.html
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