Commonwealth Bank employees will receive a four per cent guaranteed pay rise under the first deal between the employer and the Finance Sector Union in eight years. The deal, which will have a formal life of 12 months but an effective term of about 15 months, marks the first tentative steps in reviving the FSU-CBA relationship, which foundered when the bank embarked on a policy of providing unilateral pay rises and shifting its workforce onto AWAs. The proposed deal provides for a four per cent annual pay rise, back-paid to July 1, for employees who meet expectations, which FSU secretary Leon Carter says will apply to a large majority of the bank's workforce. Employees who rate as "needs improvement" will get a two per cent rise, while those assessed as unsatisfactory will get no increase. However, those who fall short will be back-paid if they improve to a "meets expectations" or "needs improvement" rating. The deal, which covers about 17,000 employees, also provides for substantial annual one-off bonus payments, with employees in lower classifications eligible for payments of three per cent (meets expectations) to nine per cent (exceptional), assistant managers between 4.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent and managers between six per cent and 15 per cent. They also receive an important assurance that they won't be worse off than they would have been under the bank's award, with a top-up payment to be provided if they have gone backwards at the end of the deal's term, expected to be early October next year. In a significant advance for the union, the agreement provides for FSU delegates to have "reasonable and sufficient time and access to existing facilities" to perform their union roles. Workplace Express