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Former BP Norway employees at Aker BP are furious that management will take away the severance pay plan they were promised. – It is important not to have an A team and a B team in an organization, responds Aker BP.
When Kjell Inge Røkke and Aker acquired BP Norway in 2016, it is said that employees were promised that they would keep their individual severance pay agreements if they lost their jobs in the future.
The management of Aker BP has made it clear that this agreement will end.
231 employees of the Industri Energi union respond with a class action lawsuit to preserve the right to severance pay.
– Our wish is to continue working. But if the management wants to replace us, we do not find ourselves taking away our acquired rights in one fell swoop, says club leader Ingard Haugeberg in a message.
You can receive up to 24 months of salary in compensation
700 BP employees joined when Aker bought the company in 2016. They are said to have feared becoming redundant in the long run and therefore demanded that the final deal scheme be continued.
Through individual written agreements, Industri Energi claims that employees were promised that they would stick to the plan.
The compensation they have been promised will range from six to 24 monthly salaries, according to Industri Energi. The amount varies depending on how long the employee worked at BP before the merger five years ago.
– For us BP employees, who joined the new and much larger Aker BP, this was a very important safety net if the new employer sent us to the door. The agreement applies to future layoffs. Dot, says club leader Haugeberg in the message.
The club reacts strongly to the fact that Aker BP now gives this deal an “expiration date”
Employees who are involved in the lawsuit against their own employer work at the company’s premises on the shelf, as well as at all company offices and locations on the ground.
– There are no illegal conditions in Norwegian working life. When Aker management sends orders to deprive our members of important rights, they leave us no choice but to take the case to court, says Alfheim.
Aker BP believes that the oil industry cannot afford such deals in the future.
Press spokesperson Ole-Johan Faret at Aker BP confirms that the employees who were transferred from BP Norway to Aker BP after the merger in 2016, had severance plans in the event of dismissal. However, existing employees and employees coming from other companies did not have such agreements.
Therefore, the oil company has always wanted to find a common scheme for its employees.
– It has been important for us to find a plan that sets a new standard for final deals in the Norwegian oil and gas industry. The plan we’ve come up with focuses more on career guidance and helping laid-off people find a new job. This means there is less focus on exclusive final amounts as well, Faret says.
So far, 60 percent of Aker BP employees have received what Faret characterizes as a better scheme than before.
– It is important not to have an A team and a B team in an organization, says the Aker BP spokesperson.
This summer, former BP Norway employees were offered to apply for severance pay or to continue at Aker BP with the new scheme. During the six months after the corona pandemic hit Norway, Aker BP has halved the number of consultants to the organization. 50 permanent employees have also agreed to retire.
– Does this mean that the remaining employees will not receive any kind of severance package if there are further downsizing?
– No, but the new regime provides severance pay according to age and not seniority. Employees under 39 who retire receive six months’ salary after their employment ends. Employees between the ages of 40 and 56 receive nine monthly salaries. Those over 57 years of age receive twelve monthly salaries. This is in addition to career guidance and helps you find a new job, Faret says.
Severance pay plans in the oil industry have long been at a completely different level than in other industries. The Aker BP management wants to make up for this difference.
– Is it correct in the situation the oil industry is in, that we should continue with these unique final packages that the industries could only dream of? We want to preserve the safety of employees through financial compensation, but we also want to complement it with other measures. This is in line with the authorities’ desire to ensure that people get a new job, Faret says.
Also Read: Oil Price Rises After Amazing Promise: – It’s Almost Too Good To Be True!
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