Porsche 2011 Annual Report Download - page 86

Preventive healthcare and occupational safety
Maintaining the health and occupational ca-
pability of its employees is one of the most important
goals of Volkswagen's human resource policy. The
“CheckUp”, a free, comprehensive medical examina-
tion, was made available to all employees at Audi in
2006 and at Volkswagen in 2010. Each Volkswagen
AG facility now offers this regular check-up using
state-of-the-art examination procedures with a view to
keeping their employees healthy and fit. The high level
of diagnostic quality of the check-ups is generally
acknowledged by the employees. So far more than
28,000 Volkswagen employees have taken advantage
of this voluntary offering, whose quality is being im-
proved continuously. At the German plants, the focus
in 2011 was on expanding the internal and external
prevention offerings that are connected to the Volks-
wagen Checkup. The Volkswagen Checkup also star-
ted to be rolled out on a large scale at group loca-
tions abroad.
Parallel to this, efforts continued to improve
ergonomics at all work stations. The deployment of
occupational therapists to the production lines en-
abled the ergonomic optimization of these work sta-
tions at many locations. Additionally, employees were
able to receive advice and guidance directly at their
workplace about improving the ergonomic implemen-
tation of their workflows.
In the course of management development
programs, line supervisors were taught to give stron-
ger consideration in their leadership practices to the
link between leadership and employee health. A basic
seminar was designed for this purpose. Volkswagen
also developed compulsory training modules on oc-
cupational safety and introduced them for all prospec-
tive managers. Based on the group occupational
safety management system implemented in 2010, all
group brands and companies conducted a compre-
hensive analysis in 2011 of their current occupational
safety organization and the processes associated with
it. Examples of good practice identified group-wide
will be used systematically for process improvements
in occupational safety in the future.
Company pension plan at Volkswagen
To secure the retirement income of former
employees, Volkswagen AG along with its brands and
subsidiaries operates a number of occupational pen-
sion systems. In Germany, this is based on a direct
pension commitment. In addition to an employer-
funded pension plan, employees have an opportunity
to provide for their own retirement income through
deferred compensation. Since 2001, funds for the
Volkswagen AG company pension plan have been
invested in the capital markets by the internal pension
fund administered in trust by Volkswagen Pension
Trust e.V. At the end of 2011, an additional 21 group
companies in Germany made use of this option. A
total of 2,589 euro million had been contributed to
the company pension fund by the end of 2011 for
employee retirement and disability pensions, and for
benefits in the event of death.
Since 1998, Volkswagen AG’s Time Asset has
given staff an opportunity to retire earlier. Employees
can make contributions from their gross salary and
time credits, which are invested in the capital markets
by the Time Asset investment fund administered in
trust by Volkswagen Pension Trust e. V. The accumu-
lated Time Asset credits can be used for paid early
retirement. At the end of the reporting period, the
assets in the Time Asset investment fund amounted
to 1,132 euro million.
GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT86