The 2019-2020 draft sector agreement for Joint Committee 209.00 (metal manufacturing industry) has been concluded

JC 209.00 (metal manufacturing industry) has concluded a draft sector agreement for the period 2019-2020. This agreement of 18 June 2019 respects the maximum negotiating envelope of 1.1% in 2019-2020 in accordance with the RD of 24 April 2019 implementing article 7 § 1 of the Act of 26 July 1996 on the promotion of employment and the preventive safeguarding of competitiveness.

Below, you will find a brief overview of the main subjects of this sector agreement. A detailed analysis will be included in our sector information.

Applying the wage margin

Companies can allocate the available wage margin for 2019-2020 in a company-specific manner via a transferable wage envelope of 1.1% of the wage bill.

• Available envelope: full 1.1% on 1 July 2019 with calculation method cfr. National Agreement 2017-2018
• Differentiated allocation: the company envelope can be allocated in a differentiated manner to groups of workers or on an individual level, based on a joint agreement and according to the procedure described in our sector documentation.
• Timing agreement: before 30 September 2019. A possible extension of this period may be agreed at company level before this date.

 

The provisions relating to the company envelope and the wage increase are, in principle, limited to scaled and scalable non-manual workers.

In companies with a trade union delegation for non-manual workers, the scope of application can be extended to non-scaled and non-scalable non-manual workers, according to a procedure that is described in our sector documentation;

In companies without a trade union delegation for non-manual workers, the scope of application is in accordance with the agreements or customs that exist in the companies.

Minimum wages

Increase of € 52,25 on 1/7/2019.

 

Eco vouchers

Possibility of converting eco vouchers into other benefits before 30 September 2019.

Mobility

Development of a new sector regulation for home-to-work travel allowances:

•  Public transport: cf. renewed interprofessional CLA of 19/9 concluded in the NLC
• Private transport: € 0.06 per km travelled with a minimum of € 1.50 (€ 1.80 if distance between home and work > 10 km) per working day and a maximum of € 6.50 per working day
• Bicycle allowance: € 0.15 per km travelled with a maximum of € 6 per working day
• Increase of the wage ceiling to € 4,960
• Biennial evaluation and adjustment of the amounts
•  Entrance into force as from 1/1/2020.

 

Social Fund

• Conversion of the flat-rate collection of contributions to a collection in terms of percentage as from 2020
• Adjustment of the calculation base, including the neutral conversion of the contribution in terms of percentage for the sectoral supplementary pension from 2020 onwards (identical calculation base as for manual workers)

 

Suspension in case of lack of work due to economic reasons

As of 1 July 2019, increase of the additional allowance from € 11.55 to € 12.07 and of the supplement from € 1.22 to € 1.27.

 

Training

• Confirmation of the growth path for the interprofessional objective of an average of 5 days of training/year from 2020
• Extension of the individual training right from 8 to 16 hours in the context of lifelong learning with adequate and qualitative reporting tailored to the company
• Extension of the risk groups with recommendation to national and regional training funds to use 0.05% for transition processes (e.g. retraining, conversion due to technological transitions)
• Training clause: not applicable to training courses supported by the training funds
• Continued transformation of the training funds into career funds

 

Scheme of unemployment with corporate allowance (SWT/RCC)

Agreement to extend all existing schemes and to subscribe to collective agreements of the NLC until 30/6/2021:

• Strenuous professions with 33 years of occupational history
• Strenuous professions with 35 years of occupational history
• Long careers of 40 years
• Exemption from modified availability at the request of the worker from the age of 62 or an occupational history of 42 years

 

Time credit and end-of-career jobs

• Duration of the full-time and half-time time credit with motive: extension to 51 months or 36 months if possible (training)
• Extension of the Flemish premiums
• End-of-career jobs: agreement to extend all existing schemes and to subscribe to collective agreements of the NLC until 31 December 2020
• Extension of the end-of-career jobs for long careers or strenuous professions from the age of 55 in a 4/5 scheme and from the age of 57 for the half-time scheme (NLC CLA No 137).

Year-end bonus

The social partners are continuing to work towards a collective labour agreement that allows for a nationally harmonised end-of-year bonus scheme for manual and non-manual workers, so that the level of the end-of-year bonus can also be determined uniformly in the long term.

 

The sector agreement will only become final upon publication on the website of the FPS Employment Labour and Social Dialogue. We will keep you informed.

 

Source: Draft sector agreement 2019-2020 (JC 209.00) – 18.06.2019