Above scale or (still) not?

Together with employers, we have reached a negotiation result for a new CLA hospitality. Now, every hospitality employee can cast their vote on this. I receive signals from employees that there is confusion about the above-scale status. And with that, the direct question arises whether there is a right to a pay rise? In this blog, I will try to provide some clarity on this.

Let me be clear straight away:
A large group of employees who are currently above-scale will no longer be so in the future.

The fact that you are currently above-scale does not mean you will remain so after 1 January 2024. A percentage increase is linked to job grades II and higher, which raises the base salaries and intermediate increments. The final salaries of these job grades are set at an amount 2% above the last increment. Therefore, the final salaries increase more than the base salaries.

To assess whether you will still be above-scale after 1 January 2024, it is important to compare your Updates salary with the new salary structure as of 1 January 2024.

• If your salary is lower than the final salary within the job grade you are classified in, you are entitled to an increase. The amount can vary for each employee.
• There is no right to a pay rise if you already earn more than the final salary of your job grade in the new salary structure as of 1 January 2024.

The percentage increases linked to the job grades are:

Follow the steps below to determine if and what pay rise you can expect:

You started employment before 1 January 2023:

1. Determine what your actual gross salary is on 31 December 2023 (on a full-time basis). You can check this on your monthly payslip under the heading gross monthly salary.
2. Check if this salary in the new salary table as of 1 January 2024 is above the final salary of the job grade associated with the employee's role. If this is the case, the CLA does not entitle you to a pay rise. If not, proceed to step 3.
3. Look in the overview above to see the percentage by which the job grade associated with your role increases as of 1 January 2024.
4. Have you received a structural increase(s) between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2023 – outside the CLA*? Then calculate this as a percentage.
5. Subtract the percentage from step 4 from the percentage in step 3.
6. Increase your actual gross salary from 31 December 2023 by the percentage resulting from step 5.
7. Place yourself in the next higher increment in the new salary table as of 1 January 2024, unless the salary exceeds the final salary. In that case, you will be placed at the final salary.
8. If you meet the conditions for an annual increment based on art. 4.11 (CLA hospitality), you will be placed in the next increment.
    

Regards,
Edwin Vlek
Union representative De Horecabond

*A salary increase due to an annual increment or the CLA increase as of 1 January 2023 cannot be offset.