Compensation and Social Benefits

Aside from a fixed base salary, WACKER employees usually receive variable compensation. This voluntary payment to both payscale and non-payscale employees is tied to the attainment of corporate goals. This variable compensation system allows employees to share in the company’s success.

At €1,329.4 million, personnel expenses were higher in 2020 than in the previous year (2019: €1,253.8 million). They included outlays for social benefits and the company pension plan totaling €288.7 million (2019: €263.2 million).

As stipulated in the collective-bargaining agreement reached between the IG BCE labor union and chemical employers in November 2019, payscale compensation in 2020 rose by the agreed one-off payment for the first six months of the year and by the first stage of the payscale increase, which took effect on July 1, 2020. In 2019, vacation pay increased from €614 to €1,200 per annum. Compensation for apprentices rose, too, by a total of 9.0 percent for the first two training years and by a total of 6.0 percent for the third and fourth years.

We believe that it is important to treat temporary workers fairly. We meet all requirements of the German Law on Temporary Employment. The German collective-bargaining agreement on industry supplements for subcontracted employment in the chemical industry (TV BZ Chemie) applies in the majority of cases.

Our social and fringe benefits – e.g. supplementary sick pay, subsidized company restaurants, company cars – are based on what competitors offer and on local market conditions. We also offer attractive supplementary benefits that reflect the needs of our employees at different stages of their lives. Examples include options for flexible working hours, training opportunities, health-promotion offers, and the provision of support in exceptional family circumstances.

Company Pension Plan

A WACKER company pension is an important compensation component. It is provided at most of our German and international sites, except for regions where the statutory pension appears sufficient or legal provisions are inadequate.

Wacker Chemie AG’s pension fund – Pensionskasse der Wacker Chemie VVaG – provides a company pension to WACKER employees in Germany. Employees can supplement their company pensions by making their own additional contributions. As provided for in collective-bargaining agreements, WACKER supports employees’ supplementary contributions. Employees in Germany receive an additional supplementary pension for that portion of their salary that exceeds the pension insurance contribution assessment ceiling.

The fund has around 17,800 members and provides pension payments to some 8,800 retirees (2019: 17,900 members and 8,600 retirees). As well as WACKER employees, the company pension fund covers employees of other member companies.

The average pension paid in 2020 was €675 per month (2019: €660). In many instances, WACKER pays in up to four times an employee’s annual pension contributions, though the exact amount is determined by the type of agreement involved. Given persistently low interest rates, WACKER also made a special payment of €73.4 million to the pension fund in 2020 (2019: €70.7 million) to ensure sufficient cover for the pension obligations. WACKER is working hard to reform its company pension system with a view to reducing the burden on its earnings, net assets and financial position, and safeguarding its ability to offer secure pensions going forward.

WACKER tries to ensure guaranteed minimum incomes in countries without national mandatory health insurance or pension programs by making sure that our compensation and social benefits are fair and competitive worldwide. At the very least, they comply with the applicable local laws and industry standards, and in many cases exceed them.

WACKER Greater China offers its employees a number of additional benefits, such as insurance policies and relocation assistance. Lower-paid employees, too, are in a position to cover their own and their families’ living costs.

WACKER’s employees with part-time or fixed-term contracts also receive the full range of social benefits. However, participation in some benefits and their full payment, e.g. profit-sharing and the company pension, are dependent on minimum seniority.

Employee Turnover

Good social benefits, competitive compensation and motivating work make WACKER an attractive employer. That is evident in our employees’ many years of service with us. In 2020, the average length of service in Germany (permanent staff) was 18.5 years (2019: 18.1 years). On average, executive personnel remain at the company for 23.2 years. WACKER customarily honors long-serving employees at an annual celebration. Due to the pandemic, however, this ceremony could not take place in 2020.

In 2020, 2.7 percent of employees groupwide resigned voluntarily (2019: 2.7 percent). At WACKER sites outside of Germany, the resignation rate was 7.5 percent in 2020 (2019: 8.4 percent).

In its latest annual satisfaction survey of chemical-industry executives, the VAA (German Chemical Industry Association of Academic and Management Employees) ranked WACKER tenth out of the 21 companies assessed. VAA member executives gave WACKER an overall score of 2.7, with 1.0 being the highest (the year before WACKER had taken third place with a score of 2.5).