AIB to provide health insurance coverage to its staff

AIB has announced that it will offer health benefits to all its employees in Ireland and Northern Ireland, becoming the first bank to do so.

The bank also announced plans to introduce a measured variable remuneration system, subject to the achievement of a number of performance targets across the business.

Variable compensation includes bonuses, shares and other annual or short-term incentives.

These new initiatives will help the bank retain and attract employees.

The bank said that from January 1, it would offer all its employees access to a plan including a wide range of health benefits and access to treatments and treatment centers at Vhi and Bupa.

It also indicated that although variable pay in Irish banks is still limited by the government to a maximum of 20,000, variable pay in the AIB will not exceed 5% of the employee’s salary, up to a maximum of 12,700 per employee.

Payment will be subject to compliance with group performance conditions, including group financial performance, customer satisfaction levels, green loan targets and gender parity.

At the same time, the AIB also agreed with the Financial Services Union the payment of a 1,000 voucher for staff in November this year.

David McCormack, AIB’s chief human resources officer, said the health and wellbeing of the bank’s employees remains a key priority for the group.

“The introduction of healthcare is a very important step forward and a demonstration of our continued commitment to providing a supportive workplace within AIB,” he added.

Commenting on today’s announcement, FSU general secretary John O’Connell said the union had campaigned hard for the introduction of a health insurance scheme and for the reinstatement of variable pay. for ordinary bank staff.

“This agreement is the culmination of a huge amount of work and is a fair reward for the professionalism and loyalty of the Bank’s staff,” Mr O’Connell said.

He said the Bank’s ordinary staff, who are at the forefront of change in the banking sector, suffered like others from the significant increase in the cost of living and the austerity measures introduced after the banking crash.

“The FSU campaigned for these austerity measures to be changed so that ordinary bank staff could be rewarded. The change made by the Minister of Finance last year allowed these salaries and benefits to be introduced,” he said. he added.

He said the union wants to make the retail banking sector attractive to new graduates and this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Billy Barrett, senior industrial relations manager at FSU, said an ordinary bank employee with a starting salary of 30,000 can get health insurance worth up to 1,450 and a variable salary amount of up to 1,500.

“AIB is the first bank to introduce health insurance for its staff and this can be seen as a positive start, but the FSU will continue to monitor both schemes over the coming months to assess their effectiveness and see how they can be improved. in the years to come,” added Mr. Barrett.