The Chief Labour Officer, Eugene Korletey, has summoned the management of GCB Bank to a meeting following the dismissal of some 164 staff of the bank.
The meeting is to ascertain the nature of the termination of appointments of workers; deemed to be former staff of the defunct UT and Capital banks who were absorbed by GCB after the take
According to victims the termination of appointments by GCB came with no notice or explanation.
The aggrieved workers have since engaged the services of a labour consultant, Seth Ablosu, to lead them in discussions with the management of GCB Bank.
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However, two meetings between the bank and the consultant, scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, and Thursday, March 21, 2019, failed to come off because the bank did not acknowledge receiving any communication in relation to the proposed meetings.T
The consultant, therefore, referred the matter to the Chief Labour Officer as a result of which the parties have been summoned.
A letter by the consultant detailing some of the challenges with the action of the bank and addressed to the Chief Labour Officer said “The scale of terminations so far appear to be targeted at ex-workers of UT and Capital Bank after they have conscientiously worked to ensure the seamless transfer of customers records and details of transaction to ensure a successful integration exercise”.
When contacted, the Chief Labour Officer confirmed the invitation to the two parties to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, the Chief Labour Officer who confirmed the invitation sent to the two parties also said the matter was within the jurisdiction of the Labour Department because it was not a dispute but to clarify the nature of the termination of the appointments of the staff.
“If it is a redundancy, then we need to ask the parties to negotiate on issues,” he told Journalists
Under Section 30 of the Labour Act 2003, the termination of appointments is not to affect leave entitlements earned by staff.
The section also states that where the employment of a worker is terminated, the worker is entitled to annual leave in proportion to the period of service in the calendar year.
A worker whose employment is terminated shall, therefore, not be deprived of any other grants or awards to which he or she is entitled, including payment in lieu of notice of termination.
The 164 staff were absolved by the GCB Bank following the collapse of UT and Capital Banks. But were however sacked by the management of the state-owned Bank earlier this month over their secondary school results despite some of the affected holding masters’ degrees.
The victims then petitioned the governor of the Central Bank Dr Ernest Addison, challenging their ill dismissal.
