Useful journalism to understand, manage and grow a business.
SearchThe final offer lowers the initial cap of 180 departures and includes early retirement from age 55. UGT will consult its decision-making bodies and employees before deciding whether to ratify it.
Vodafone Intelligent Solutions (VOIS), Vodafone Group’s technology and shared services subsidiary, has submitted its final offer for the collective dismissal plan in Spain. The document sets the maximum number of departures at 166, down from the 180 initially envisaged, and limits compulsory dismissals to 130. The remaining departures could be covered by voluntary applications, although the company reserves the right to veto applications.
The proposal is not yet a ratified agreement. UGT, which holds a majority on the negotiating committee and in the legal representation of the workforce, will submit the document to its decision-making bodies and consult employees before setting its final position. Therefore, the terms communicated describe an offer that is pending those steps.
The offer provides for compensation of 45 days’ salary per year worked for periods of service before February 12, 2012, and 33 days for periods thereafter, capped at 24 monthly payments. People who apply to leave voluntarily would be exempt from the non-compete clause.
In addition, employees with an annual fixed salary of less than €40,000 would receive an additional lump-sum payment of €5,000 if their departure takes place through a voluntary application. Management would retain veto power over these applications, so the voluntary route does not in itself guarantee that all requests will be accepted.
The plan provides for early retirement for those who have turned 55 by December 31, 2026. The payments envisaged would amount to 80% of net fixed salary plus 50% of the notional net variable pay.
Coverage of the Special Agreement with Social Security would extend until age 63 for those leaving at age 57, until age 64 for people aged 58 or 59, and until age 65 for those aged 60 or over. The payments would be increased annually by 1.2%.
Alongside the departure measures, the offer includes a 3% salary increase planned for 2027. Negotiations over the collective dismissal plan began in September, after the company initially proposed an adjustment that could affect up to 180 people.
UGT has said that the terms are within the range of recent offers in the telecommunications sector, although it has also indicated that they do not fully meet its expectations. The union has particularly highlighted access to early retirement from age 55 and the inclusion of part of the variable pay in the calculation of the payments. The decision on the offer as a whole is pending the union’s assessment and consultation with the workforce.
The organization argues that the proposal would leave investors with fewer safeguards than under the SEC and questions the initiative’s legal basis. The CFTC is still seeking comments: there is no final rule.
Read story
The expansion of Icelandic banks, financed with debt and deposits raised abroad, ended in a collapse that left hundreds of thousands of customers without immediate access to their savings. The Icesave dispute showed that deposit protection also depends on who backs it and on their ability to respond.
Read story
The financing, subject to court approval, is intended to give the circuit room to move toward a possible relaunch in 2027 after Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF withdrew its backing.
Read story