Contracts, remuneration and additional benefits

Collective labour agreements

Collective labour agreements govern pay and working conditions for 88.9 % of employees in Germany (previous year: 89.3 %).

In May 2018, the parties to the labour agreement – the Association of German Seaport Operators (Zentralverband der deutschen Seehafenbetriebe e.V. or ZDS) and the trade union ver.di – agreed wage table increases of 3.0 % from 1 June 2018 with a twelve-month term for port workers at companies that operate at German seaports. Similar deals have been reached for further wage agreements of the HHLA Group.

Appraisal and remuneration systems

The appraisal systems at the German companies contain both bottom-up and top-down components. Some of them are laid out in collective labour agreements, comprise variable remuneration components and are linked with training requirements for the company and staff.

ROCE – the return on capital employed – is also a significant parameter for determining variable remuneration components for executives and employees not covered by labour agreements. Performance-related remuneration components at executive level are calculated over a period of several years. This further enhances the focus on sustainable, long-term targets.

Flexible working models

HHLA employees working part-time in Germany

as of 31.12, part-time share in %

A growing number of people across all employee groups and hierarchy levels in Germany are taking up the option of working part-time to tailor their working hours to different life stages. Offering part-time work is therefore an important way of retaining staff at the company. Allowing staff to adapt their working hours helps them to reconcile their professional and family commitments, look after close relatives or do charity work. In 2018, a total of 191 employees were in part-time employment positions (previous year: 179) – 12 more than in 2017. At the end of 2018, the ratio of part-time workers at HHLA in Germany increased to 5.5 % (31 December 2017: 5.1 %). The percentage of men in part-time employment rose to 30.9 % (previous year: 29.6 %). At the holding company, where most roles are clerical, the ratio of part-time workers (excluding apprentices) was 16.8 % (previous year: 16.2 %).

Company pension scheme

With the signing of the labour agreement on company pension schemes under the HHLA capital plan, the HHLA company pension scheme has now been completely reorganised and further developed. Since the introduction of the new system in 2018, employees have even more flexibility in terms of shaping their working lifetimes. Both individual early retirement solutions and various options for lump-sum payouts upon retirement boost the appeal of company pension schemes for employees. Existing claims from models such as the working lifetime account and the so-called “port pension” have been transferred to the HHLA capital plan. By pooling these provisions within a single system, HHLA is also more closely aligned with rising employee needs with regard to transparency. In the first year alone, around one third of entitled employees benefited from this new pension system.

More detailed information about the workforce can be found in the Employees section of the combined group management report.