Company pension schemes: Involve large sections of the workforce – reconsider guarantees

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has consulted on the draft of a second law to strengthen company pensions. In our statement, we welcome the proposals to enable the social partner model to become more widespread. However, companies not covered by collective agreements will continue to be excluded from this model. Large sections of the workforce will thus be excluded from the purely defined contribution scheme. Under this model, the employer is only liable for the payments to the pension funds, pension schemes or life insurers, but not for the pension benefit. The pure contribution commitment enables a high proportion of shares in the company pension scheme, as the amounts paid do not have to be secured by guarantees. We also suggest reconsidering the guarantee requirements in the other company pension schemes.