committee, made up of nine directors of local Rabobanks, to ensure they are appropriate given
practices at local Rabobanks. The Works Council of Rabobank Nederland has been involved in
the operation from the outset. In October, it issued a generally positive recommendation
regarding the suggestions for improvement and the associated section on personnel. It issued
similar recommendations in respect of requests for follow-up recommendations in November.
Rabobank and the unions entered into discussions on the loss of some 400 internal jobs in
2012 and 2013.The starting point here is that superfluous employees are to be provided with
assistance in finding a new job at Rabobank or elsewhere. Agreement was also reached on the
Social Charter from the Rabobank CBA.These additional arrangements apply to reorganisations
that have an impact on staffing at Rabobank Nederland (with the exception of Rabobank
International) until 1 January 2014. A temporary mobility centre,'Nieuw Perspectief'(New
Perspective), has been set up to provide superfluous employees with professional, consistent
support and ensure that as many of these employees as possible find work within our outside
the bank.
Pension funds
Pension provisions for employees of the local Rabobanks, Rabobank Nederland, De Lage
Landen, Obvion, Orbay and the Rabo Real Estate Group are administrated by the Rabobank
pension fund. The coverage ratio of the Rabobank pension fund was 115.8% at the end of
2011 (119.9%). Given the required coverage ratio of 109.6%, this means that the fund had a
reserve surplus of 6.2%. This places the fund in a select group of pension funds that have a
reserve surplus rather than a coverage shortfall. The regulator, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB),
has instructed pension funds to use the average interest rate in the fourth quarter, as a one-off,
to calculate their obligations. As a consequence of this, the coverage ratio of the Rabobank
pension fund was around four percentage points higher than it would otherwise have been.
The national pension accord and the associated rules and regulations, as well as changes
affecting the annual reporting requirements for Rabobank Group according to IFRS, give
grounds to revise the pension plan. A broadly based project organisation, comprising the
employer, employee representation, the members'council and the unions, has been called
into being for this project.
The Robeco pension plan is a 'staggered' plan, based on defined benefits for all scales up to and
including scale 10. For all scales above 10, members are provided with a defined contribution
that can be also be added to their gross salary if they so wish. With effect from 2011, for some
employees the final salary system was replaced by an average salary system with conditional
indexation. In view of the coverage ratio at year-end 2011, no supplement was granted as of
1 January 2012 on accrued entitlements and pensions that had commenced payment.
The coverage ratio of the Robeco pension fund was 108% at the end of 2011
Getting better
In January, the new objectives for the Occupational Health Safety Policy 2011/2012 were
adopted at Rabobank Nederland in consultation with employee representatives and the
unions. As part of this, the absenteeism target in 2011 was made tougher and reduced from
4.0% to 3.8%. However, the rate of absenteeism increased from 3.8% in 2010 to 3.9% in 2011,
chiefly due to an increase in the length of time employees were absent. The average duration
of a period of absenteeism was 15 days in 2011 (2010:13.4 days). The incidence of frequent
absenteeism (employees who reported sick more than twice in 2011) fell to 13.8%. The
proportion of employees who did not report sick at all in 2011 rose from 36.5% in 2010 to 39%
in 2011The diagnosis codes of employees who have contact with a company doctor were
recorded for the first time in 2011. Psychological complaints (50%) and complaints related to
the locomotor system (17%) were the most common diagnosis categories. Patients and
managers gave the level of support by the Occupational Health Safety Service scores of 7.7
and 7.5, respectively.
The rate of absenteeism at Robeco in 2011 was 2.8%. Managers at Robeco are becoming
increasingly aware of the importance of providing prompt, appropriate support to employees
during their absence, focusing on the possibilities for reintegrating employees who are ill.
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Annual Report 2011 Rabobank Group
