Germany: agreement in the industrial cleaning sector

On 18 October, social partners in Germany’s industrial cleaning sector announced that they had reached an agreement to renew the framework collective agreement which regulates, among other things, the leave entitlement and bonuses enjoyed by the 650,000 employees in the sector. The agreement follows an intense dispute marked by six unsuccessful meetings, a series of warning strikes and an unusual campaign launched on 7 October by IG BAU trade union against certain companies, accused of taking advantage of the situation to impose poorer working conditions on their employees and publicly portrayed as “black sheep” (see article n°11408). The new collective agreement includes higher bonuses paid for night-time work, as well as work done on Sundays and bank holidays, and improved rules on holidays. A significant point for employers is that an agreement has been reached on the question of overtime bonuses paid to part-time employees. In the future, all employees, whether they are full-time or part-time workers, will receive the same pay supplement of 25% from the ninth hour of work in a day. The issue of introducing a Christmas bonus, a very controversial topic, has been postponed and will be discussed, as employers wanted, during the next round of collective bargaining on wages, due to start next year.