Banco BCP admits to resorting to collective layoffs

NThis week, BCP launched a plan to lay off workers, with the bank contacting each of the workers it wants to lay off and presenting the conditions for layoffs (compensation values ​​from the start).

Employees can retire on early retirement (for employees aged 57 and over) or on mutually agreed termination. In this case, the one who leaves by agreement does not have access to unemployment benefits.

On June 9, after the BCP announced the employee layoff program, the unions affiliated with the UGT (Portuguese Financial Sector Workers Union, Center Banking Workers Union and Mais Union) announced that BCP intends to fire them. up to 1000 workers.

This week, on Wednesday, the bank held meetings with trade unions and even announced that it allows the use of collective layoffs.

In a presentation to trade unions that Lusa had access to, BCP points out that collective dismissal in accordance with legal conditions applies to “all those who do not accept the negotiation process”.

Back on June 9, the bank started talking about “unilateral measures to reduce staff.”

According to Jornal Económico, which announces today that BCP allows collective layoffs, among the terms of the layoff by mutual agreement is the payment of compensation in the amount of 1.4 wages per year of work.

Economico also reports that “BCP originally wanted to offer 1.3 salaries, but after meeting with the unions, the amount to be paid for voluntary care has increased.”

The so-called “preliminary negotiation process” of BCP will last until August 18, and the bank foresaw that it could begin collective layoffs from the end of August.

According to the presentation to the unions, the goal is to complete the restructuring plan on December 5th.

When he announced the plan to leave workers, executive chairman Miguel Maia said the bank had postponed its planned downsizing in 2020 due to the pandemic crisis, “then deciding that it was not feasible to go through a downsizing process this year. worked out “.

According to Miguel Maia, “the structured process of downsizing is the“ hardest, hardest decision ”for the executive team to make” since they took office, but he also said that if they have not done so now, they are “appropriately compromising the future of the bank and its employees.”

The manager stressed that the outputs were not made by comparing the number of employees of other banks, but “on the basis of a thorough analysis of needs and existing opportunities, taking due account of the specifics of the bank and the impact of new technologies on business models and processes,” as well as the expected development of BCP. “

Read also: Reduction of staff at BCP will reach a thousand people