Germany’s social partner-backed defined contribution (DC) pension plans continue to make steady progress, despite lingering uncertainty over the impact of the occupational pension reform recently approved by Parliament.
Earlier this month, employers’ association HessenChemie and union IGBCE Hesse-Thuringia signed a collective bargaining agreement to provide DC pensions to employees in the plastics processing industry in the state of Hesse from January.
The plans will be delivered via ChemiePensionfonds and Höchster Pensionskasse.
Unions IGBCE, Ver.di and the German Education Union (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft, GEW) now offer DC arrangements through four pension vehicles: Metzler Sozialpartner Pensionsfonds, ChemiePensionfonds, Höchster Pensionskasse and BVV Pensionsfonds.
The agreement concluded in Hesse is the latest in a series of social partner DC deals finalised this year.
Looking ahead, Ver.di plans to introduce DC schemes in the hospital sector, after agreeing with employers to roll out DC provision in the transport, care and financial services sectors.
DC plans in challenging times
IGBCE has been at the forefront of the shift towards social partner DC pensions, having helped negotiate the first such agreement alongside Ver.di and energy company Uniper.
Against the backdrop of the introduction of the social partner model in the chemical industry in 2022, the latest agreement in Hesse shows that the DC model is an “attractive approach” for pension schemes backed by social partners, IGBCE’s regional secretary Philipp Mundt told IPE.
For employers’ association HessenChemie, the deal with IGBCE in Hesse demonstrates that differing views on retirement provision can be resolved pragmatically.
The social partner DC model helps attract employees to the plastics processing industry while setting clear and reliable framework conditions for companies, said Boris Wein, head of labour market policy at HessenChemie.
“This combination of responsibility and sound judgment is particularly important in a challenging economic environment,” he added.
In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the social partner model is now well established and is serving as a reference point for other sectors, Wein said.
At the same time, Germany is bending the rules to allow companies not bound by collective bargaining agreements to join existing social partner models.
Consultants, however, question whether this measure alone will significantly boost occupational pension take-up.
The government has said it will introduce further measures to expand access to DC schemes if the number of employees covered by social partner models has not doubled by 2027 compared with 2025.
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