12,500 employees from 87 nations prove our commitment to Germany as an economic location
Employer
Our employees are very important to us. We are aware that daily teamwork forms the basis for our success. We work under the following motto: 100% Team Tönnies – Responsibility for food.
Tönnies has consciously decided to continue to manufacture the majority of its products in Germany. The company is committed to the location of Germany. Although we have been trying to attract qualified employees for years, we are also feeling the effects of the skills shortage.
Important key figures
We are “The burger builder”
Four pillars of common success
Variety and responsibility are embodied and actively created by our employees, whether apprentice or manager, whether German or from elsewhere. We would like to specifically highlight four aspects:
The Tönnies Group does not only employ staff from the 28 EU states. Today employees from 87 diverse nations work for the Tönnies Group, and these personal differences strengthen the team spirit and diversity within the company.
Our safety experts check occupational safety at our sites and in individual workplaces and develop it further. In this regard, our commitment exceeds the limits of our corporate group. We also work with the responsible Berufsgenossenschaft Nahrungsmittel und Gastgewerbe [liability insurance association for the food and hospitality sector] and maintain close partnerships with the occupational health and safety authorities and external specialists.
The continuous education and training of our employees represents an important factor in our success. In this regard, the focus is on the necessary individual development of individual employees. From presentation training to on-the-job training to management training, we offer our employees suitable training opportunities.
It is our goal to also offer our employees a number of opportunities away from their job, so that they remain satisfied, motivated and healthy. For this reason, we have implemented numerous measures to strengthen the work-life balance. For example, we established the Tönnies childcare facility at our site in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. The regular family days and company sports teams at different sites also offer opportunities for colleagues to get to know each other better. The apprentices in Weißenfels and Rheda-Wiedenbrück also meet several times each year at joint events, such as paintball games, human table football and barbecue evenings.
Employees introduce themselves
Manfred Seitz
Responsible for Incoming Goods at Tillman’s
Markus Schiegner
Shift Supervisor Quality Assurance
Guido Stroop
Technical Manager for Heating, Sanitation and Air-Conditioning
Joining Tönnies
Welcome structure with individual assistance on site at the start
100% Team Tönnies, that is our guiding principle and one which we adopt from day one: we want to give our new employees a good start to their new job. This encompasses both professional and human assistance. To guarantee an optimum start at our company, there is an introductory phase with four modules:
First day
After you have been welcomed by our Human Resources department on the first day of work, we make sure that you feel comfortable at Tönnies. A personal contact partner in your new department is on hand with advice and tips.
Tönnies Academy
In addition to a detailed introduction to the workplace, an online course at Tönnies Academy helps you to quickly take on board your new responsibilities and tasks. Here, a wide variety of web seminars are available to you.
Further training
After your initial period at the company, Team Tönnies offers individual customised training. The wide-ranging seminar programme offers both internal group training and external training for individuals.
Support
We support our employees in more than their jobs. We are committed to helping you with issues such as finding accommodation and school enrolment, as well as other administrative matters, so you can always contact us any time about issues such as these.
Our actions
Like all companies in food production, we have faced a skills shortage for years. For this reason, we have been aware for a long time that we have to train employees from outside the sector and integrate them into our production processes. We have thus developed several actions to use and integrate employees from outside the industry. We support employees as they integrate into the region and in learning the German language. We are partners with the responsible municipal authorities and points of contact in order to secure good housing conditions for the employees and their families and to support communal advisory services, both financially and with our expertise.
At many sites, Tönnies is in intensive discussion with the responsible persons and committees for the city and municipality. In some locations, it is our aim in the medium term to help ease the market for affordable housing. In doing so, we offer the responsible communities the chance to work with us on a solution to this public task. Tönnies is also open for discussion at any time: if an employee is affected by unsuitable housing, this can be reported to the company via our offer of dialogue. We can also contact the responsible authorities in this regard.
In cooperation with the adult education school and other education providers, Tönnies offers its own employees and employees of service providers the opportunity to attend language courses. In individual courses, employees can learn the language from teachers trained in teaching German as a Foreign Language [Deutsch als Fremdsprache (DaF)]. The company subsidises the courses to develop the language competence of its employees.
With the Sögeler Weg [Sögel Way] developed since November 2011 at the Sögel production site, Tönnies has, in collaboration with the Samtgemeinde Sögel [Sögel administrative division], the Evangelical and Catholic churches, and the regulatory and social security authorities, developed minimum standards for the remuneration, accommodation and integration of indirect employees.
Code of Conduct as per “Sögeler Weg”: Tönnies and the Verband der Fleischwirtschaft [German Meat Association] have developed a code of conduct for the industry based on the Sögeler Weg. It regulates important points relating to living and employment conditions and the integration of indirect employees – the standards for shared accommodation contained therein were determined to be generally valid by the Wohnungsaufsichtsgesetz [Housing Supervisory Law] in North Rhine-Westphalia on 30 April 2014.
Introduction of a generally applicable, collectively agreed minimum wage for the abattoir and butchery industry with the Verband der Ernährungswirtschaft [Food Industry Association] and the NGG Union, as well as the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Appointment of former Deputy Mayor Gudrun Bauer (SPD) as the ombudswoman for the entire Rheda-Wiedenbrück region. The goal was to appoint an independent, voluntary contact partner to support Eastern European employees in disputes and formal processes within the company and with administrative offices. With the independent ombudswoman, Tönnies is expanding the range of advisory services for indirect employees.
Introduction of a voluntary commitment within the meat industry, namely by Tönnies, other industry players and the food industry associations VdEW, VDG and VdF, to the Federal Ministry of Economics.
Since 25 July 2017, Tönnies is, in accordance with the GSA Fleisch [Act on Securing Labour Rights in the Meat Industry] also partly responsible for the proper calculation of working time and social insurance deductions. Tönnies is currently improving systems and processes to check who is working for how long and what wages are due.
From 1 January 2018, all employees – both direct and indirect – are entitled to receive a minimum wage of EUR 9.00/hr as per the collective agreement. Since 1 January 2015, the collectively agreed minimum wage is valid in the industry, something that Tönnieshas always called for.
Participation in round table for city of Gütersloh to discuss issues of integration and employment.
All work contract workers from the core will be employed directly in the Tönnies company structure in a permanent employment relationship until the end of 2020.
Our regional responsibility
Tönnies is active in markets around the world. However as an economic engine and employer, we keep a close eye on the regions in Germany in which our sites are located. Locally it is our top priority to be a good citizen and to fulfil our responsibility as a regional company.
It is important for us that:
- we are, and remain, a secure and future-proof employer for our employees
- we work with producers, suppliers and partners from the region wherever possible so that we strengthen the local economic power and become a stronger partner for them
- we support, and create, new opportunities so that foreign employees, feel comfortable with their new life when they arrive and can integrate into the community
- we maintain a good relationship with the residents in the area around our sites so that we can openly discuss the role of our sites and the expectation of residents
- we are committed to the social development of the region and support existing social institutions as well as clubs that we can participate with
- we implement climate- and environment-friendly production processes at our sites and use natural resources, for example, water, sparingly
Tönnies works within these areas of activity to actively develop its responsible role as a regional company. It is also important for us to listen to what different stakeholders expect from us and to work out solutions together in the context of politics, the authorities and also citizens.
This is our offer of dialogue with the region.
Our next goals
As an employer we constantly want to develop further. It is our goal to retain our employees and, at the same time, to be an attractive employer for potential trainees.
This includes
- primarily, the company establishing and further developing its values and corporate culture. We also want to involve our employees more with their ideas and feedback: requirements, problems and ideas should be discussed in a more direct way. The development of the company suggestion process is one example of this.
- to strengthen employee retention, the HR department are developing working-time models, home-office options, coaching and leave regulations.
- for the internal security processes we will soon have a standardised, independent payroll system. The range of language courses for German as a Foreign Language will continue to be expanded.
- We use a competence analysis to analyse the strengths of our own and external employees, based on which we undertake management development.
- With the establishment of accommodation checks in shared accommodation, Tönnies also helps to ensure that all employees live in suitable conditions.
Opinion & Dialogue
Questions on the issues of human resources, employment and working-time models to Jasmin Koch, Human Resources Team, and Martin Bocklage, Human Resources at Tönnies.
Tönnies stands for openness, respect, reliability and fairness. These values are the basis for cooperation in Team Tönnies and should be demonstrated by and towards the employees.
We think that open and respectful conduct between employees from 87 countries is a prerequisite for successful interaction. Of course, you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs; however, it should be possible to discuss the matter fairly. Not only do we adopt our handshake mentality with customers and partners, but it also advocates reliability without a written contract.
There are two paths for systematic further training. Firstly Tönnies has its own e-learning platform, the Tönnies Academy, where employees can take training courses free of charge. In addition, all employees are offered an individual development programme with language courses or specialist training as required.
Ask us!
Make up your own mind and have your questions answered at first hand. Please ask so that we can give you answers and better understand what is important to you.
Our contact partners Jasmin Koch und Martin Bocklage will answer your relevant questions here. If the content of the questions is the same, we group the answers together.