Relegation is anything but premature for Schalke 04. That's why the club's management is already preparing for the event that after just one year it's back to the 2nd division.

Rouven Schröder and Peter Knäbel have said it many times: Remaining in the Bundesliga is the big goal for Schalke. It would be comparable in magnitude to the rise from the previous season. It will also be correspondingly difficult to ultimately achieve this goal.

Precisely because this hope is far from certain and there is a not too small probability that the Gelsenkirchen team will have to go back to the 2nd Bundesliga, appropriate precautions must be taken at an early stage. With this in mind, the club's management has already come up with a savings package that includes renewed salary savings.

The image reports on this. An agreement on the package has already been reached between the club and the works council. Almost all of the 450 employees at Schalke would again forego part of their salary if relegation occurs.

The percentage of savings is graded according to salary. If it is five percent for a salary of 3,500 to 5,000 euros, 12.5 percent is due for a salary of up to 15,000 euros. Everything over the 15,000 mark corresponds to a share of 15 percent.

On the other hand, success bonuses were also agreed at the same time. Because employees pull together when times are bad, they should also have something to celebrate in good times.

For example, there would be a monthly salary as a subsidy for the promotion again. Remarkable: Even bonuses for winning titles were recorded. And even for winning the Champions League. If this unlikely event occurs, the S04 employees also receive a monthly salary. Don't worry: even reaching the final would mean a three-quarter salary as a bonus.

The club has already confirmed the new package to the picture. The explanation for the agreements: "The aim is, on the one hand, for the employees to participate financially in the sporting success, which happened for the first time when they were promoted to the Bundesliga this summer."

And in a very general sense, it's about preparing the club in such a way that you're "armed in case of another relegation". That would be given by the "automatic cost reduction" that occurs through the "voluntary waiver of salary".

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as New austerity measures: Schalke wants to be "prepared for relegation".