Former workers of Intercontinental Bank (IBG) who dragged Access bank to the National Labor Commission (NLC) over their refusal to pay them their redundancy package have won the case against the bank.
Sixty seven former workers of Intercontinental bank hurled Access bank to the NLC in 2012 after the bank refused to pay them a redundancy package following its acquisition of intercontinental bank.
But the NLC yesterday Thursday 10th November, 2016 directed the management of Access Bank to pay the redundancy package to the ex-staff in accordance with Section 65 of the Labour Act, Act 651.
The bank which was served with the ruling today has to pay the redundancy package within 14 after the ruling.
The bank is expected to cough up over 15 million cedis to cover the redundancy payment.
Genesis of case
Some aggrieved workers of IBG in March, 2012 begun agitating against new owners of IBG – Access bank after they were asked to sign an absorption letter on March 12, which contained the introduction of new conditions including the writing of a credit policy guide test.
The workers who refused to sign the letter by the deadline date were disabled from the bank’s system.
The move led to the workers threatening to demonstrate against their new owners, Access Bank who subsequently also refused to pay the workers their severance package.
This led to some of the workers in the same year dragging Access Bank to the National Labour Commission while others resorted to the courts to compel the bank to pay them the severance package.
A statement sent to Citi Business News from Access Bank at the time in reaction to the reports said 395 out of the total 448 employees of IBG had accepted their absorption into Access Bank Ghana and were fully absorbed into the combined entity.
‘Although all IBG employees have been offered job opportunities with no diminution in their terms and conditions of service, we are aware that a few have not accepted the offer and have petitioned the National Labour Commission demanding severance pay’, the statement read in part.
Access Bank has maintained a fair, objective and transparent process during the business combination, in line with international best practice.
As such, the Bank remains committed to working with the Labour Commission and all other relevant bodies to uphold the laws of the land and address any residual issues arising from the merger, it added.
Industry players say the latest development may hit Access bank Ghana hard due to its ongoing Initial Public Offer (IPO) launch.
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By: Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana