Compensation and benefits

• Compensation based on employee’s position and individual performance as well as company’s success
• Pay generally comprises fixed and variable components plus benefits

In addition to market-oriented compensation, BASF’s total offer also comprises benefits, individual opportunities for development and a good working environment. Our employees’ pay is based on global compensation principles. These take into account an employee’s position and individual performance as well as the company’s success. Analyses of the Ludwigshafen site have shown that, for contracts exempt from collective agreements, there are no systematic differences in pay between men and women, provided the positions and qualifications are comparable.

As a rule, compensation is comprised of fixed and variable components as well as benefits that often exceed legal requirements. In many countries, these include company pension benefits, supplementary health insurance, and share programs.

On the occasion of the company’s 150th anniversary, BASF Group employees worldwide received an anniversary bonus of around €100 million in total.

In 2015, the BASF Group spent €9,982 million on wages and salaries, social security contributions and expenses for pensions and assistance (2014: €9,224 million). Personnel expenses therefore rose by 8.2%, particularly owing to currency effects. Higher salaries and wages, in addition to expenses for the anniversary bonus and the long-term incentive (LTI) program, also contributed to the increase.

Employees participate in company’s success

• Return on assets determines variable compensation
• BASF share program “plus” fosters employees’ long-term participation in company

With variable compensation components, employees participate in the company’s success and are rewarded for their individual performance. The same principles basically apply for all employees. The amount of the variable component is determined by the success of the company – measured by the return on assets of the BASF Group – and the employee’s individual performance. Individual performance is assessed using a globally consistent performance management approach. The annual bonus for the 2015 business year is not as high as in 2014 due to the lower return on assets.

In numerous Group companies, employees are offered the chance to purchase shares. The BASF share program “plus” sponsors the long-term participation of our employees in the company through incentive shares: By investing a portion of their compensation in BASF shares, they take part in the long-term development of BASF.

BASF offers its executives the opportunity to participate in a share-price-based compensation program. This long-term incentive (LTI) program ties a portion of their compensation to the long-term performance of BASF shares. In 2015, 93% of the approximately 1,200 eligible executives worldwide participated in the LTI program, investing up to 30% of their variable compensation in BASF shares.