5.1 Employee benefit obligations
The table shows the employee benefit obligations as well as the employee benefit expenses.
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2022 |
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Employee benefit plans |
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CHF million |
Patronage funds |
without surplus/deficit |
with surplus |
with deficit |
without own assets |
Total |
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Balance at 1.1.2022 |
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10 |
37 |
47 |
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Contributions to employee benefit plans |
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2 |
27 |
1 |
1 |
31 |
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Increase/decrease in economic benefit of surplus/deficit |
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–4 |
3 |
–1 |
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Payments of contributions to employee benefit plans |
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–2 |
–27 |
–1 |
–1 |
–31 |
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Translation differences |
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–1 |
–2 |
–3 |
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Balance at 31.12.2022 |
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5 |
38 |
43 |
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Surplus/deficit according to FER 26 |
28 |
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34 |
–6 |
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56 |
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Employee benefits within personnel expenses |
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2 |
27 |
–3 |
4 |
30 |
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2021 |
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Employee benefits within personnel expenses |
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2 |
26 |
–6 |
4 |
25 |
Employee benefit plans in Switzerland are overfunded by CHF 34 million (previous year: CHF 99 million). The decrease is mainly due to the negative performance of the investments.
The employee benefit plan in the UK is underfunded by CHF 6 million (previous year: CHF 8 million). The amount of the underfunding depends significantly on the value of the securities and on the discount rate and the expected mortality rate used in the calculation of the pension liabilities. The total economic obligation, which represents the expected cash outflow in the medium term, amounts to CHF 5 million (previous year: CHF 10 million).
The recognized economic obligation from the employee benefit plan with no assets of their own, i.e. unfunded plans, amounted to CHF 38 million (previous year: CHF 37 million) and primarily concerns plans in Germany and Sweden. The CHF 3 million increase in the economic obligation is included in the pension fund expenses for the period.
Changes in the recognized economic obligations from employee benefit plans and the employer-paid contributions for the year under review amounted to CHF 30 million (previous year: CHF 25 million) and are included in personnel expenses.
Accounting principles
The employee benefit plans of the GF Corporation comply with the legislation in force in each country. Employee benefit plans are mostly institutions and foundations that are independent of the GF Corporation. They are usually financed by both employee and employer contributions.
The economic impact of the employee benefit plans is assessed each year. Surpluses or deficits are determined by means of the annual statements of each specific benefit plan, which are based either on Swiss GAAP FER 26 (Swiss benefit plans) or on the accepted methods in each foreign country (foreign plans). An economic benefit is capitalized if it is permitted and intended to use the surplus to reduce the employer contributions. Any employer contribution reserves are also capitalized. An economic obligation is recognized as a liability if the conditions for a provision are met. They are reported under "Employee benefit obligations". Changes in the economic benefit or economic obligation, as well as the contributions incurred for the period, are recognized in "Personnel expenses" in the income statement.