DHL 2013 Annual Report Download - page 158

 ’    
Dened benet pension obligations are measured using the
projected unit credit method prescribed by  . is involves
making certain actuarial assumptions. Most of the dened benet
retirement plans are at least partly funded via external plan
assets. e remaining net obligations are funded by provisions for
pensions and similar obligations; net assets are presented sepa-
rately as pension assets. Where necessary, an asset ceiling must be
applied when recognising pension assets. With regard to the cost
components, the service cost is recognised in sta costs, the net
interest cost in net other nance costs and any remeasurement out-
side prot and loss in other comprehensive income.
      
  
Deutsche Post  pays contributions to dened contribution
plans for civil servants in Germany in accordance with statutory
provisions. ese contributions are recognised in sta costs.
Under the provisions of the Gesetz zum Personalrecht
der Beschäigten der früheren Deutschen Bundespost (Post-
PersRG – Former Deutsche Bundespost Employees Act), intro-
duced as article  of the Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Postwesens
und der Tele kommunikation (PTNeuOG – German Posts and
Telecommuni cations Reorganisation Act), Deutsche Post 
provides benet and assistance payments through a special pen-
sion fund for postal civil servants (Postbeamtenversorgungskasse)
operated jointly, since early , by the Deutsche Bundespost
successor companies, the Bundes-Pensions-Service für Post und
Telekommunikation e. V. -, to retired employees or their
surviving dependants who are entitled to benets on the basis of a
civil service appointment. At the beginning of , Bundesanstalt
für Post und Telekommunikation (BAnstPT – Federal Posts and
Telecommunications Agency) assumed the rights and obligations
of the -. It has undertaken the tasks of the pension fund for
postal civil servants since that time. e amount of Deutsche Post
’s payment obligations is governed by section  of the Post-
PersRG. Since , this Act has obliged Deutsche Post  to pay
into the postal civil servant pension fund an annual contribution
of   of the gross compensation of its active civil servants and the
notional gross compensation of civil servants on leave of absence
who are eligible for a pension.
Under section  of the PostPersRG, the federal government
makes good the dierence between the current payment obliga-
tions of the postal civil servant pension fund on the one hand, and
the funding companies’ current contributions or other return on
assets on the other, and guarantees that the postal civil servant
pension fund is able at all times to meet the obligations it has as-
sumed in respect of its funding companies. Insofar as the federal
government makes payments to the postal civil servant pension
fund under the terms of this guarantee, it cannot claim reimburse-
ment from Deutsche Post .
      ’
    
e contributions to dened contribution retirement plans
for the Group’s hourly workers and salaried employees are also
recognised in sta costs.
is also includes contributions to multi-employer plans,
which are basically dened benet plans, particularly in the 
and the Netherlands. e relevant institutions do not provide
the participating companies with sucient information to allow
the use of dened benet accounting. e plans are therefore
accounted for as if they were dened contribution plans.
Contributions are paid into these multi-employer plans in
the  based on collective agreements between employers and
the local unions. ere is no employer liability to any of the plans
beyond the normal contribution rates negotiated in collective
bargaining except in the event of a withdrawal that meets speci-
ed criteria. At the end of , there existed no agreements with
any of these multi-employer plans beyond the collective agree-
ments that set the contribution rates. Employer contributions
to pension funds are expected to amount to  million in 
( actual employer contributions in nancial year :  million).
Accord ing to information made available by the pension funds,
some of the plans to which Deutsche Post DHL makes contribu-
tions are underfunded. ere is no available information from
the plans themselves which would indicate any change from the
contribution rates set in the  collective agreements. At pres-
ent, Deutsche Post DHL does not account for a signicant share of
the contributions to the pension funds except for one fund where
Deutsche Post DHL is the largest contributor.
Contribution rates for one of the multi-employer retirement
plans in the Netherlands are determined each year by the manage-
ment body of the pension fund with the involvement of the central
bank of the Netherlands, based on cost coverage. ese contribu-
tion rates are the same for all employers and employees involved.
ere is no employer liability towards the fund beyond the con-
tributions set, even in the case of withdrawal. Any sub sequent
under funding ultimately results in the rights of members being
cut and / or no indexation of their rights. Employer contrib utions
to the pension fund are expected to amount to  million in 
(actual employer contributions in nancial year :  million).
According to information made available by the pension fund, the
plan is not underfunded at present. Deutsche Post DHL does not
represent a signicant level to the fund in terms of contributions.
154 Deutsche Post DHL 2013 Annual Report
Notes
Basis of preparation
Consolidated Financial Statements