Contract staff 'offered deals'
Posted on » Friday, February 22, 2013
EXPATS and other Gulf Air staff working on a renewable contract basis have been offered severance packages of three months' salary, plus half of their remaining contracts, sources told the GDN.
They said those who qualified include pilots, senior management and foreign staff whose contracts were for a specific period.
Gulf Air has yet to make public details of redundancy packages put on the table as it looks to slash its workforce.
"Those on a contract have been offered three months' basic salary, plus half of the remaining time left on your contract," said sources.
"So the amount you get will really depend on when you signed your contract.
"Those people who signed fresh contracts recently will be getting more than those who only have a month left on their contract."
They claimed this was unfair to employees nearing the end of their contracts, adding that Gulf Air was no longer renewing contracts - instead extending them for three months at a time. "Even if a contract was ending and that employee has not been sacked, they will only have their contract extended by three months - not renewed," said the sources.
"The company is only renewing contracts, so the maximum they will have to pay (to staff who are let go on three-month extended contracts) is the three month salary, and the one and a half month."
The Gulf Air Trade Union earlier said most staff were switched to open-ended contracts years ago. Gulf Air has not yet responded to GDN questions about redundancy packages, despite repeated requests.