In February 2018 the metal sector’s social partners signed a landmark collective agreement that allowed certain categories of worker (posted workers, workers with young families, workers taking care of dependent parents) to choose between extra salary or 8 extra days leave, starting 01 January 2019. In Frankfurt on 12 November Jörg Hoffmann, the head of the IG Metall union, presented the results of a survey assessing the new agreement that was conducted with works councils across 1,400 metal sector companies. The results clearly indicate that many workers opt for more free time instead of receiving extra money. 190,000 workers, including 140,000 posted workers have formally requested the extra leave time as of 2019 from their employers. IG Metall believes that it is high time for employers along with their WCs to find solutions to these requests.
An agreement to suit workers’ needs. The IG Metall head recalled that the results were only a preliminary review of the February agreement (c.f. article No. 10551) and that only half of the sector’s companies (1,400 out of 2,800) had taken part in the union’s survey. The results nonetheless are clear-cut. Jörg Hoffmann stated, “We are delighted that employees are viewing the new collective agreement so positively. As far as we can establish these new opportunities for workers to determine the s
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