Skye Bank Plc has laid off 175 of its staff in spite of the
directive issued by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris
Ngige, last Friday that banks should put on hold the current gale of
retrenchment sweeping through the banking industry.
In a
statement issued on Monday, the bank attributed the retrenchment of the
affected staff members to their failing the bank’s appraisal exercise
held in 2015.
According to the statement a combination of
factors was taken into consideration in the annual exercise which ranged
from low productivity to disciplinary issues.
The bank also explained that the affected staff were duly exited in line with the bank’s staff exit policy.
The
staff disengagement exercise is coming 18 months after the bank’s
integration with erstwhile Mainstreet Bank, which it acquired in October
2014.
The bank said it extended its appreciation to the affected
staff for serving the bank, describing them as “members of the family”
who would always be accorded deserving respect in their future dealings
with the bank.
However, when Nigerian Tribune got to the branch
opposite the PDP National Headquarters in Wuse Zone 5 where seven of
the staff were affected by the retrenchment exercise, around midday, on
Monday, some of the staff were seen talking in hushed tones while the
cashiers attending to customers struggled to put up perfunctory smiles.
A
staff, who spoke with our correspondent, lamented that those disengaged
were paid only three months’ salary as parting benefits.
It was gathered also that another sack list would soon be released based on “age versus level”.
The
source explained that “age versus” level means that the bank’s
authority was presently matching the age of each staff with the grade
level that the staff has attained to determine who would remain and who
else to go.
Last week, the management of Eco Bank sacked over 1000 of its staff.
Ngige,
in his reaction to the wave of sack in the industry had said in a
statement that “Following spate of petitions and complaints from
stakeholders in the banking, insurance and financial institutions, I
hereby direct the suspension of the on-going retrenchment pending the
outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry.
“This is as
a result of the apprehension by my office of the various disputes in
the sector in accordance and in compliance with the provisions of the
labour laws of Nigeria,” it said.
“In this wise, all the
retrenchments and redundancies done in the last four months and all
proposed ones should be put on hold pending the outcome of the proposed
stakeholders’ summit for the banking, insurance and financial
institutions’ employers and employees, slated for the first week of July
2,’’ the statement read in part.