Employment conditions

Collective agreements

The working conditions for DB Group employees are oriented, in addition to country-specific regulations, primarily on collective bargaining agreements that have been concluded with the trade unions in the respective countries.

In principle the collective wage agreements apply to employees in Germany. The activities of civil servants in DB Group are based on statutory allocation under Art. 2 (12) of the Rail Restructuring Act (Eisenbahnneuordnungsgesetz). The same wage agreement provisions within DB Group therefore apply on this basis to civil servants, insofar as the legal regulations governing civil servants do not conflict with this.

The share of employees subject to collective bargaining agreements remains at a high level.

Further improvements of employment conditions

Further developments of the employment conditions for executives and employees not subject to collective wage agreements are being made continuously. DB Groupʼs strategy is based on the remuneration policy and the structure of ancillary services.

The variable compensation is consistent with the objectives of strategy DB2020+. 

To improve compatibility of work and private life, executives and employees not subject to collective wage agreements are able to negotiate a sabbatical of up to six months. We also support the provision of part-time executive employment and interim management.

DB Group has launched the “partial retirement for older employees and executives in DB Group” program. The purpose of the program is to reduce the individual workload and, simultaneously, maintain the employability of older executives until the statutory retirement age.

Social and fringe benefits

In addition to payment that is fair and commensurate with performance, DB Group also offers a wide range of social and fringe benefits. The five major social partners – BSW, Bahn-Betriebskrankenkasse, Verband Deutscher Eisenbahner Sportvereine, DEVK-Versicherungen and Sparda-­Banken – offer benefits packages for our employees. In cooperation with BSW and awo lifebalance, DB Group offers its employees various options for childcare. Up to 90 childcare places are available in the DB-owned facility Bahnbini in Frankfurt am Main and 192 places are available in childcare facilities not owned by DB Group. During the summer vacation, the children of employees are able to take part in DB RasselBAHNde program at various DB sites. Parents also receive support from awo lifebalance in their search for childcare options, emergency and vacation care services, as well as with the placing of au pairs and day care staff. Through awo lifebalance, we also offer our employees extensive support in caring for relatives.

Balancing of a career and private life

DB Group offers various part-time models. This supports a better balance between career and family.

The share of employees with permanent employment contracts in Germany remained very high at 95%.

The increase compared with the previous year was a result of a change in how data is collected at DB Schenker.

Measures against discrimination

DB Group is working hard to create a working environment without discrimination or harassment. Capable assistance for clarifying and processing conflict situations is available from the internal office of the ombudsman for all employees as well as executives and HR staff, along with the rules in the Group Employer/Works Council Agreements (Konzernbetriebsvereinbarung; KBV), such as the KBV for equal treatment and protection against discrimination or the KBV for balancing work, family and background, as well as guidelines such as those of the Federal General Act on Equal Treatment (Allgemeines Gleichheitsbehand­lungs­gesetz), for operational integration management or compliance guidelines. The focus in all this is on non-bureaucratic and independent extra-­judicial settlement of conflicts. The ombudsman also coordinates the internal pool of mediators, with over 100 mediators actively contributing. Actively engaging in preventive efforts and when conflicts arise helps to continue building a constructive conflict culture and consequently a cooperative and positive corporate culture.

Occupational safety and health management

Health rate

The health rate remained nearly unchanged.

Health management

Our workplace safety policy is designed to continuously decrease the number of accidents and the severity of accidents. A special focus of these efforts is on serious accidents at work – including accidents involving contractors and, in particular, when working in the vicinity of tracks. We systematically record employee exposure to potentially carcinogenic hazardous substances. Particular attention is paid to preventing post-traumatic stress disorders among train drivers and other employee groups. DBGroup is very well positioned here. In conjunction with Group security and the trade unions, we are also addressing new health challenges, such as the change in the working environment caused by digitalization and employee concerns about attacks and assault.

Occupational accidents

DB Group is aware of its responsibility with regard to occupational health and safety. Compliance with internal standards and national laws serve to protect employees. A safe work environment as well as healthy and motivated employees contribute to the economic success. Various qualification measures were introduced with the aim of further improv­­ing safety and awareness among executives and employees.

The LTIF workplace safety key figure fell slightly in Germany in the year under review. Preparations for reporting worldwide LTIF were also further promoted.

We have introduced further campaign “Wahlbetrieb” for works council election purposes for reducing fatal occupational accidents. The focus is on safety-related behavior when working in the vicinity of tracks.

Representation of employees in occupational health and safety committees

In Germany, companies with more than 20 employees are legally required to have an Occupational Health and Safety Committee (Arbeitsschutz­ausschuss) (section 11 of the Occupational Safety Act; Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz). The key here is how the operation is defined (production facility, branch, “Wahlbetrieb” for works council election purposes). The majority of DB Group companies in Germany fall under this category with more than 20 employees, so the majority of all employees (more than 75%) are rep­­resented in occupational health and safety committees.

Occupational and health protection within DB Group

Systematic occupational and health protection makes a vital contribution to the physical and mental health of employees, as well as the long-term success of the business.

In addition to occupational safety, holistic health promotion, ergonomic workplace design and employee counseling are the core responsibilities of occupational health management. This is based on risk as­sessments as a core element of operational workplace safety. From these workplace risk assessments, including mental stress, measures are drawn up to avoid or reduce risks, employee instructions are coordinated and preventive occupational medical care is given.

In addition, there are counseling services offered by occupational welfare organizations (BSW and Verband Deutscher Eisenbahner Sportvereine) and social insurance companies affiliated with DB Group – railway company health insurance fund (Bahn-Betriebskrankenkasse), accident insurance for Federal agency and railway staff (Unfallversiche­­rung Bund und Bahn) and German pension fund (Knappschaft-Bahn-See; KBS).