THE VAST majority of Halifax staff who are members of the trade union Unite will receive redundancy packages worth at least nine months’ salary, if they vote in favour of an agreement reached yesterday.
Last month Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI) announced that it is to close its 44 Halifax branches in Ireland with the loss of 750 jobs.
Following the resumption of talks between BoSI and Unite which had previously broken down, a redundancy deal has now been agreed, and the union is recommending that its members accept the deal in a ballot tomorrow.
Under the terms of the deal, union members would receive 7.25 weeks’ pay for each year of service.
In recognition of the short service of many Unite members, a minimum payout of 26 weeks’ salary has been negotiated.
The maximum is set at 143 weeks.
Staff will also receive a lump sum retraining payment, plus a retention bonus if they stay on until their position becomes redundant, which is expected to happen in June. Both of these payments will be linked to length of service.
