The AXA European Works Council, with union representatives from AXA operations in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK is being held in Bristol.

The UK delegates are asking Group President Henri de Castries the following questions:

1.As big companies such as Accenture, JP Morgan and PWC move away from performance reviews, are there any plans for AXA to change the way we do Performance Management?

2. As the UK Government announces that companies should be publishing salaries and bonus differences between females and males, how confident is AXA that we are paying employees fairly with regard to gender. Will AXA have to manipulate bonus amounts so that they reflect a fair spread between females and males?

3. Do you know how many people are working flexibly across Europe? Do you look for trends by country at how many flexible working contracts are there, are some countries doing better than others?

4. Travel to work forms part of working hours- time spent travelling to and from first and last appointments by workers without a fixed office should be regarded as working time the European court of justice has ruled- potentially AXA could be in breach of working time regulation, what plans has the company got at a European level to combat this?

5. When will AXA be brought into 2015, and issue smart phones and tablets as standard to those job roles and grades warranting the use, instead of old Nokia’s and blackberries – again the higher levels have them?

6. What plans have AXA got to improving systems to ensure we do not keep losing business days as has happened throughout Europe in the last few weeks?

The 2016 Unite in AXA pay survey can be accessed here.

Since the Budget announcement last week, an increasing number of union members have contacted us raising the issue of how it impacts them.

Many of those who have contacted us are relatively low paid and have said they will be losing over £1000 a year following the changes being implemented in the Budget.

Whilst the next round of pay talks with AXA are a little way off, we need to ensure we have a clear picture of any potential adverse impact the Budget may have on our members in AXA, so we can look to address this if necessary.

Consequently we are asking all our members to complete the BBC Budget calculator here.

And enter the result in our confidential online survey here.

We have asked you to provide some anonymous demographic data so we can ascertain if any specific populations are impacted more than others.

We are not sure how long the BBC will keep its Budget calculator online, so would encourage you and your colleagues to use it and complete the survey asap.

Following the recent elections a number of new union representatives have been elected.

A list of those elected (and re-elected) can be found here.

The 2015 AXA European Works Council, with union representatives from AXA operations in Belgium. France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK is being held in Bristol.

The UK delegates are asking Group President Henri de Castries the following questions:

1. The UK Government has committed to hold an in/out referendum on British membership of the EU by 2017. The Confederation of British Industry has called on employers to “turn up the volume” on the dangers to business an exit would cause and Airbus UK president Paul Khan has stated that future investment and thousands of jobs would be put at risk if the UK left the EU. Will you commit AXA to “turn up the volume” and publicly warn of the dangers to businesses and jobs that an EU exit would cause to the UK?

2. As digital change is inevitable and will accelerate as we head towards 2020 and beyond.  Will HDC assure the EWC that robust and adequate training and development needs will be put in place to give existing staff a fair opportunity to adapt to new models of work. The UK has concerns that a particular age group of people are more vulnerable to these changes and may not be given an opportunity to prove themselves?

3. Earlier this year Vodafone committed to introduce a worldwide minimum of maternity pay, 16 weeks fully paid maternity pay and full pay for a 30 hour week for the first six months upon returning to work. Whilst this will cost Vodafone $28bn, this will be offset by the current costs of $47bn Vodafone incurs in recruitment replacing women who leave after having a baby. Will AXA commit to such a similar enlightened global policy which will benefit both employees and the employer?

4. Stress is becoming an increasing concern in the workplace. We understand that AXA France has recently undertaken a company wide workplace stress survey. Will you commit to run this in all the other European countries so a better understanding can be achieved in seeing how widespread the problem is?

All union representative positions are open for election for the new three year period starting 1st July 2015. Details on the nomination and election process can be found here.

Based on a 65% return of ballot papers issued, the result of the 2015 pay ballot is as follows:

For: 75%
Against: 24%
Spoilt: 1%

The company have been advised of the result.

Thank you to everyone who voted and the local workplace reps for the hard work they put in running the ballot.

Click here to read the latest Unite in AXA newsletter on the 2015 pay offer.

Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.

Pay negotiations between AXA UK and Unite have concluded with the following pay offer for employees in Unite’s bargaining group in levels 9-6a. Employees in levels 9 – 3* who are not collectively bargained for will also receive this pay offer.

A head line pay offer of 3.00% delivered as a:

• A pay increase based on a 25% pay matrix. Plus
• A 0.75% targeted spend, that focuses on specific areas determined by each CEO with their HR teams to target anomalies and business critical areas. Unite will be kept informed of the company’s overall decisions in respect of its bargained for group. The plan would be for any distribution to be concluded by end September

The details:

• A pay increase based on the pay matrix below. The matrix has been built around a 2% award for someone rated as Successful in the Medium part of the pay range. Any increase will be based on your performance and position against the increased pay ranges.
• Pay ranges have increased by 1% L8-7, 2% L6 and 3% L5-3. Level 9 median to increase to £15,000. These increases reflect market movements in pay.
• As part of an ongoing dialogue between AXA and Unite, a 1.7% increase in the minimum salary to £15,000 (subject to employees not receiving an unsuccessful rating).
• Implementation of a Market 2 minimum salary of £16,653 as informed by the Living Wage Foundation.
• A commitment by the company to continue to review Pay Ranges annually.
• As part of the settlement, AXA has committed to review the following during 2015: possible low cost options for employees with no PMI, explore manager 360 degree appraisals and possible alternative arrangements to Performance Related Pay.

PAY MATRIX

The following matrix will be used to award pay increases for all employees in all levels 9 – 3:

• Those with an FTE salary above the maximum for their range will receive a capped increase based upon the maximum salary for that range.

Example of Pay Award

This will mean that if your current full time equivalent (FTE) salary is £18,000, is in the medium part of the increased pay range and you achieve a Successful rating, your salary increase, in your April pay, will be between 0.75% (£135) and 3.25% (£585), with a mid-point award being 2% (£360). Your manager will use their discretion to determine your award within the range shown in the pay matrix but to ensure we achieve the agreed spend overall, any adjustments up have to be balanced with movements down.

Unite will ballot their members, with the ballot taking place from Monday

16 to Friday 27 February

 Please speak to your Line Manager or Unite Representative if you have any questions.

Karan Hutchinson                                           Steve Blease

Group HR Director                                        Unite

 *This settlement includes those employees in AXA PPP that are within the AXA PPP Local Range. The 2015 settlement for employees in AXA PPP Job Families will be considered and communicated separately. Also included are those employees in the new Claims function covered by the Development Framework where structured pay progression is in place.

Click here to read the latest Unite in AXA newsletter on the 2015 pay claim.

Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.