In spite of decreasing punctuality and a rather low rate of customer satisfaction, the CEO of the SNCB last year received a 63,746 euro bonus for 2017, De Tijd wrote on Thursday, basing its story on the railway company's annual report. With this bonus, Sophie Dutordoir's earnings were slightly in excess of 300,000 euros.
Mme Dutordoir became head of the SNCB in March 2017. The former strongwoman at Electrabel was obliged at the time to accept the salary cap fixed by the government for public companies, that is 290,000 euros a year. The sum could be split into two indexable parts: a fixed salary of 230,000 euros and a maximum bonus of 60,000 euros gross. Dutordoir does not receive any fringe benefits, group insurance or hospital insurance.
With a variable amount of 63,476 euros, the board of directors granted Dutordoir the largest bonus possible. What this amounts to depends on several parametres, including train punctuality, customer satisfaction, the number of accidents at work and financial performance.
If SNCB's profits rose sharply in 2017, the year on which the bonus was calculated, the other criteria were far less convincing. The customer satisfaction rate reached only 60.9%, 5 percentage points lower than the previous year. Punctuality also fell from 89.2% in 2016 to 88.3%. Appearing in front of the Belgian parliament's infrastructure committee last January, the CEO stated her desire to see the bonus linked in the future to workers' welfare.
The Brussels Times
Top bonus for SNCB CEO, despite service delays
