labour market
Collective bargaining employees are more likely to receive Christmas bonuses
Without a collective agreement, the chances of fixed special payments decrease. Photo: Friso Gentsch / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The special payments at the end of the year are firmly planned for many employees. But not all employees have a chance of the so-called Christmas bonus.
Collective bargaining employees in Germany receive more Christmas bonuses than other employees.
This year, 87.2 percent of all collective bargaining employees are entitled to a corresponding special payment at the end of the year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. The payment averages 2677 euros, which is an increase of 1.9 percent since the previous year.
In the west, the average Christmas bonus of 2695 euros is around 5.5 percent higher than in the east, where 2554 euros are paid. In return, somewhat more collective bargaining employees there (88 percent) are entitled to a share than in the west (87 percent).
Since the payments are agreed in the respective collective agreements, they are extremely different. In the agreements examined, they range from 5,651 euros (coking plant and mineral oil processing) to the lowest value of 301 euros that temporary workers receive on average. Even in the hospitality industry, comparatively little Christmas bonus is paid with an average of 861. High Christmas bonuses are also agreed for the energy supply (5171 euros) and in the chemical industry (5369 euros).
However, collective agreements do not apply to all employees in Germany. In 2020, 47 percent of West German and 57 percent of East German employees worked in companies in which there was no collective agreement, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) found in May. There are, however, a large number of companies who base their payments on collective agreements, but are not bound by them.
Without a collective agreement, the chances of fixed special payments decrease. According to a study by the union’s WSI collective bargaining archive, only around half of the employees had a claim last year. “A collective agreement is the best guarantee that you will receive Christmas or vacation pay. We know from regular surveys that employees with a collective agreement receive such special payments about twice as often as employees who are not paid according to the collective agreement, ”said WSI director Thorsten Schulten.
The German Trade Union Federation hopes that the coming federal government will strengthen the collective bargaining agreement, which has been dwindling for years. Public contracts should only go to companies that have collective agreements. In addition, it must be easier to declare collective agreements generally binding for all companies in an industry.