Santander Offers Early Retirement From 55 Years

Banco Santander has proposed this Thursday to the unions that employees can take advantage of early retirement from the age of 55 in the framework of the negotiation of the Employment Regulation File (ERE) that it prepares.

The entity plans to eliminate 5,072 jobs, through some 4,000 early retirements and 1,000 relocations, according to the unions, which qualify these figures as “inadmissible” and demand to reduce them. They also want to lower the 900 planned office closures before talking about the specific economic conditions that the bank has presented to them.

The unions, who will meet with the bank again on December 1, believe that the proposed adjustment is disproportionate and the conditions “totally insufficient to cover this file with real voluntary will.”

The workers ‘representatives, led by the Workers’ Commissions (CC OO) as the majority union, affirm that if Santander has little budget to pay those it wants to fire, “what it must do is reduce the number of casualties from this ERE ”, They indicate in CC OO.

According to the entity’s proposal, employees who take early retirement would have to have been at the bank for at least 15 years.

By age groups, from youngest to oldest, those aged 55 to 57 would receive 65% of the pensionable salary (with a discount of the unemployment amount for two years) and a special agreement up to 63 years of age, with a maximum revaluation of 1% .

Employees between 58 and 61 years of age would receive 70% of the pensionable salary (discounted from the unemployment amount for two years) plus the same special agreement until age 63.

For those over 62 years of age, the entity offers 20 days per year worked, with a ceiling of 12 monthly payments.

Likewise, those over 55 who do not reach the required minimum seniority of 15 years would receive 30 days of pensionable salary with a limit of 20 monthly payments, plus volunteer bonuses, seniority and a special agreement with a maximum revaluation of 1% up to 63 years .

Those under 55 years of age are offered incentive leave of 30 days of pensionable salary, with a limit of 20 monthly payments plus voluntary bonuses.

From the UGT they demand “real voluntariness within the process, quotas by age, province and a maximum percentage of denials of voluntary adhesions”.

They also consider that priority of permanence in the bank should be given to the groups established by the bank and that there is “equalization of the handicaps of children and employees so that both are equal to or greater than 33% and extend it to spouses with serious illness or handicap ”.