Additional payment after price cap
Railway bosses collect millions in bonuses despite missing targets
December 11, 2023, 10:03 a.m
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Companies that use the electricity price cap as state aid are not allowed to pay bonuses. After the end, the millions are still flowing to the railway – even though the targets for punctuality and customer satisfaction have not been achieved.
According to a media report, Deutsche Bahn (DB) will soon be able to pay its board members bonus payments for 2022 totaling almost five million euros. NDR, WDR and “Southgerman newspaper” report that they were able to view the group’s long-standing calculation model for the bonuses. Areas in which goals were missed can obviously be offset against other areas in which goals were exceeded. High bonuses are possible despite missing the goals for punctuality and customer satisfaction.
According to the report, payment of the bonuses for 2022 was suspended because DB used the electricity price brake as state support. The price brake expires at the end of the year; the bonuses could therefore be paid from January 2024, the report says. The bonuses are in addition to the basic salary of around four million euros for the nine board members in 2022. According to the group report, they will receive a total of around nine million euros.
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According to the report, the railway slightly exceeded its own goals in the area of “women in leadership and employee satisfaction” in 2022. The bonus for this area has apparently been increased significantly, to a value of 175 percent, it goes on to say. The nine company board members at the time should receive around 1.6 million euros for this goal alone.
Lutz receives 440,000 euros for CO2 savings
According to the documents, the railway also exceeded its own target when it came to CO2 savings, namely by two percentage points, the research alliance reported. For this purpose, CEO Richard Lutz should receive almost 440,000 euros in bonus payments.
The supervisory board, which includes representatives of the federal government and the trade unions, decides on the bonus system at the railway. According to the report, the system will be changed over next year. Railway board members would then have a higher proportion of their salary as a fixed salary, and the proportion of bonuses should decrease. The railway explained to the research alliance that the company does not comment on matters relating to the supervisory board.
The group report for 2022 states that the total compensation of the board members consists of a fixed basic salary, a performance-related annual bonus and a long-term bonus program with a multi-year assessment basis. The focus of these long-term incentives would be “long-term transport and climate policy goals as well as the sustainable creditworthiness and profitability of the DB Group”. The plan term is four years.