Severance Package: Aggrieved AIICO Pension staff seek govt’s intervention

The staff of AIICO Pension Managers Limited, who were recently acquired by FCMB Pensions Limited, have expressed grievances over their severance package, describing it as a ‘light robbery’ in favour of top management Staff of the pension firm.

The staff noted that a part of the company’s handbook was extracted and reviewed to state that management’s severance package will be calculated by a percentage while junior staff will be based on six weeks per number of years instead of minimum industry average of twelve weeks.

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“We were issued cessation letters on December 17, 2021. We complained to the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), which intervened as we were instructed to return to work on December 21. We returned to work on the trust that the union will engage parties and negotiate equitably,” one of the aggrieved staff members said.

Daily Trust learnt that following the intervention of ASSBIFI, the cessation letters were withdrawn on December 21 while staff were informed that FCMB Pension had consented to an additional N150,000 across board to each individual’s severance package.

However, the staff rejected the offer, lamenting that the unit was not represented in the negotiation and the additional N150,000 falls short of the proposal by the union.

Despite the protest by the staff, they were issued another cessation letter on January 31, informing them that their services were no longer required from that day.

Dissatisfied, the unit president, Basorun Adekunmi, and other members on February 1 wrote to the Director General of the National Pension Commission, PENCOM, calling for urgent intervention in the matter.

They called on PENCOM to wade into the matter and ensure that they are not thrown out of the system unjustly without an equitable severance package when compared to what the top management intends to part with upon the severance of their own employment from AIICO Pension Managers Ltd.

“Based on the calculation and draconian template, a member of the staff who has served the company for over 15 years is expected to part with just a paltry sum of below N5m while the management staff will be going away with severance packages ranging from over N77 million to N120m each. This injustice and ridiculous template was sent to PENCOM and signed off.

“The staff are calling on the government and the House of Representatives on Pension to please come to our aid to stop this injustice,” another staff member added.

However, the Head, Strategy & Corporate Communication of AIICO Pension Managers Limited, Bankole Ekundayo, said he could no longer speak on the matter as he was affected by the disengagement as well.

“I can’t give the reaction of the company because I no longer work with them as well. I also want you to know that it is not everything that people say that is true or should be treated as a story,” he said.