CBA staff pay rise to be back-dated
Commonwealth Bank will pay most of its staff a pay rise of four per cent, back-dated to July 2011, assuming staff vote to accept a one-year extension in the bank's enterprise agreement.The pay rise is the same negotiated for the one-year enterprise agreement negotiated by CBA in 2010, the first reached between the bank and the Finance Sector Union in many years.A one-off performance bonus ranging from three per cent to nine per cent for line staff (and up to 15 per cent for managers) will also be payable to many staff under terms that also remain unchanged from last year.In each case, the full pay rise will only be payable to those who achieve a ranking of "meets expectations" in their annual performance review. This ranking is tied, in part, to survey work by Roy Morgan Research on the quality of services provided by CBA staff, and, in part, to the meeting of sales targets.The base bonus is also payable to the staff member who "meets expectations" or better. The top tier of bonuses requires a ranking of "exceptional".Earlier this year, CBA waived some of these performance expectations and paid bonuses in any event, despite the poor findings of research surveys in the wake of CBA's fattening of its margins on home loans in November 2010.The FSU and the bank finalised negotiations over the enterprise agreement a month ago, though its terms have only been publicised this week. Eligible CBA staff will vote on the agreement next week.As with the 2010 agreement, the new arrangement lasts for a year only, a term the union says the bank insisted on.The CBA also preferred an agreement that rolled over the terms from the 2010 agreement. The bank declined to engage with some of the FSU's chief concerns, such as the realism of sales targets for many staff working in branches and contact centres.As reported on Monday, CBA is encouraging staff to reach sales targets of double monthly levels for the next two months and is offering a number of extra bonuses to those who achieve this.