KBC threaten withdrawal of voluntary severance terms

KBC threaten withdrawal of voluntary severance terms and refuse to attend Labour Court

The Financial Services Union (FSU) have accused KBC of threatening staff and state that the Bank's actions are causing “huge stress and anxiety for staff”. FSU have accused KBC of not doing enough to avoid redundancies for their staff in 2 hubs closing outside of Dublin and in threatening to withdraw voluntary severance terms if staff do not sign up to severance by mid-November.

The FSU and KBC were invited to appear before the Labour Court today, Wednesday to try and solve ongoing issues relating to redundancy and redeployment options.

KBC who already refused an invite from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) also refused to attend today’s Labour Court hearing.

Gareth Murphy, Head of Industrial Relations and Campaigns with the FSU condemned KBC’s refusal to attend the Labour Court calling it “disrespectful and arrogant”.

According to Mr. Murphy, KBC are threatening staff with a reduction in redundancy payments to statutory levels if staff do not accept the so-called voluntary severance terms before an arbitrary date set by the Company.

“Staff working for KBC have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic in extraordinary circumstances and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity by their employer. The bank threatening to reduce their redundancy payments to the statutory amounts unless they accept ‘voluntary’ terms is an example of a culture that urgently needs to change”

“KBC actions are not in accordance with proper industrial relations and completely out of line with sectoral norms. I would ask them to desist from their current actions and show a real willingness to solve the outstanding issues” concluded Mr Murphy.

“KBC should do a lot more to provide options of jobs for staff outside of Dublin and utilise more remote working opportunities to avoid redundancies.”

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Contact: Brian McDowell, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, FSU. Tel: 087-9161225. Email: brian.mcdowell@fsunion.org

Notes to editors:

• For further queries and for further comment following the meeting, please contact Brian McDowell, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, FSU. Tel: 087-9161225. Email: mcdowell@fsunion.org.

About FSU

The FSU is Ireland’s leading union across banking and finance. We represent thousands of staff across the main retail banks, and we have members in more than 70 companies across the finance and fintech sectors. Our members are spread across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. We are headquartered in Dublin and we also have a presence in Belfast. We are members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and UNI Global finance union.