The long-awaited terms of redundancy pay-outs being offered to 2,500 staff at State-controlled Allied Irish Banks have been announced.
An independent mediator has recommended that the bank offer either three weeks’ pay per year of service, plus the statutory entitlement of two weeks’ pay, or four weeks’ pay, including the statutory two weeks’ pay, whichever is better for employees.
Pay-outs will be capped at €225,000 in line with the redundancy terms offered to staff at Bank of Ireland today.
AIB is, however, offering early retirement to staff from the age of 50, compared with 55 at Bank of Ireland. Staff are also being offer retraining grants under the recommendations made by Kevin Foley, director of conciliation at the Labour Relations Commission.
AIB human resources director John Conway told staff in an internal email that the bank would consider Mr Foley’s recommendations and let staff know its decision early next week.
The Irish Bank Officials’ Association said that the mediator recognised that any job losses at AIB should be voluntary and that it would be seeking an urgent meeting with senior management at AIB to discuss its plans.
“The mediator’s recommendation provides a template for change in AIB. But it is only half the story. we are unable to offer a full assessment of its implications for our members in AIB because the bank has yet to share its plans for the future with us in any real detail,” said IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick.
“This is absolutely essential to enable staff to make a fully informed assessment about what is potentially a life-changing decision for each employee.”
AIB announced in April 2011 that it would be seeking more than 2,000 job cuts. In March the bank, which is 99.8 per cent owned by the State, said that it would be seeking up to 2,500 redundancies but has yet to identify where in the individual business units the job cuts would be sought.
The bank has said that the redundancies would be split proportionately across 12,500 staff in the Republic of Ireland and 2,500 staff at First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland and AIB’s British business.
AIB has been effectively nationalised after the Government has injected more than €20 billion into the bank and its subsidiary, EBS, which it acquired last year.
