We employ people in more than 220 countries and territories across the globe. Their regional distribution is illustrated by the adjacent diagram. Germany remains the country with the largest number of employees, although the workforce there is diminishing. In the rest of Europe, in Asia and the other regions, the number of employees has risen dramatically in some cases; in America, however, the number has fallen due to restructuring of the express business.

New collective pay agreements settled

On 30 April 2008, Deutsche Post AG and the trade union Verdi reached an agreement in their collective-bargaining negotiations for the around 130,000 Deutsche Post AG employees. The employment pact for employees covered by the collective-bargaining agreement, which rules out layoffs, was extended to 30 June 2011. In addition, these employees received a one-time payment of €200 for the months of May to October 2008 and a 4% wage increase effective 1 November 2008. Beginning in December 2009, wages will rise another 3.0%. Employees subject to collective-bargaining agreements will continue to work a 38.5 hour work week. In return, paid breaks have been reduced by 48 minutes per week. The collective agreement will end on 30 June 2010. New collective agreements were also concluded for the around 5,500 staff members in subsidiaries.

Exemplary health management

We look after the health and well-being of our workforce – if nothing else to help maintain their performance on the job. To do this, we developed a Group-wide programme based on the Corporate Health Policy we adopted in the previous year. The programme comprises, for example, the Health Promotion Award, with which we recognise exemplary health initiatives each year. At 6.6%, the illness rate at Deutsche Post AG in Germany remains once again at a low level (previous year: 6.3%). In December 2008 we were awarded the German Corporate Health Award for our corporate health management. The award was granted by the EU Commission and the BKK Bundesverband (German federal association of company health insurance funds) as part of the Move Europe campaign. The certification of our occupational health and safety organisation’s quality management system was renewed.

Safety at the wheel – traffic safety campaign sees worldwide success

We successfully continued the road safety campaign we started last year. The Global Road Safety Initiative showcased information on safe and considerate driving practices and helped keep the annual accident rate at a consistently low level. The initiative also supported our climate protection programme. The initiative received special recognition in the form of the 2008 DuPont Safety Awards, which it won for the category “most innovative approach”. We will continue the campaign until at least the end of 2009.

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