Bank of Ireland and its unions appear to have reached agreement on redundancy terms for 2,100 staff who are due to leave the bank under cost cutting measures.
Labour Relations Commission Chief Executive Kieran Mulvey has published a recommendation which has been accepted by the bank.
Under this recommendation departing staff in the Republic are to receive eight weeks pay per year of service, including statutory redundancy. Those payments will be capped at 2.5 years’ salary.
Staff employed in the UK will receive four weeks pay per year of service plus statutory redundancy.
The agreement also provides for an early retirement scheme allowing certain eligible staff to retire on full pension up to eight years ahead of their normal retirement date.
One tenth of the early retirement offers will be reserved for staff who are not working in targeted areas but who have genuine personal reasons for applying.
For staff remaining with the bank, there will an improved profit-sharing scheme for each year of the four-year restructuring plan. They will also only work a 35-hour week from 1 September.
The Irish Bank Officials’ Association has welcomed the fact that there would be no compulsory redundancies. It intends to ballot its members over the coming weeks.
Accepting the recommendation, Bank of Ireland described it as a fair and balanced outcome.
