400 disengaged Diamond Bank staff decry nonpayment of severance pay

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By; ABDULL-AZEEZ AHMED KADIR, Kaduna
Over 400 hundred staff of Diamond Bank Plc who were recently disengaged by the bank have decried the nonpayment of their severance pay by the management after terminating their appointments without notice.
Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna at the weekend, the workers questioned the rationale on why the disengagement terms by Diamond Bank should be different from other banks which adequately settled all the severance of terminated staff and other entitlements in line with labour laws.
The workers also decried that the Bank is also trying to make them unemployable by claiming that their disengagement is due to their non performance which they claimed was not true as many of them have good/excellent performance rating in their appraisals including the last one.
The spokesman of the group who pleaded for anonymity said they will not allow the bank to get away with their action, noting that they have been consulting widely to know the precise action to take and that they were in Kaduna to consult with various human right activists/lawyers, labour leaders and other notable figures who will help to advance their case.
“Diamond Bank is not the only bank that sacked its staff recently, but obviously, it is the only bank that is refusing to pay its former workers their severance pay after terminating their appointments unannounced. And to further strengthen their refusal to pay, the bank is telling the public that we were sack due to our nonperformance. This is not only a malicious lie but it is wicked because by saying that, they are trying to render us unemployable. But on the contrary, many of us who were affected, numbering over 400, have good/excellent performance rating during previous appraisals including the last one done by the bank. The records are all there.
“So, Diamond Bank should stop peddling falsehood and own up to their responsibilities. If they are sacking because of economic reasons, they should say so and adequately settle anyone they terminate his or her appointment. That was what other banks did. However, we will engage all means within the law to ensure that the bank does not get away with this illegality, because over 400 is not a small number. We have been consulting widely across the country on the matter to know the precise action to take and we are in Kaduna to consult with various human right activists/lawyers, labour leaders and other notable figures who will help to advance our case,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that the bank has already thrown all their accounts into debit, suspended their visa cards and as well threatening them to immediately pay up any money owed it as a result of the upfront allowances payed them in January/February and that it (the bank) shall begin to apply the staff rate of 4% interest for 90 days, after which it shall begin to attract interest at Monetary Policy Rate.
The spokesman pointed out that the ability to absorb economic shocks and move forward is also a necessary aspect of organizational commitments and called on the government to put measures in place in order to checkmate organizations who take delight in the arbitrary termination of staff’s appointments at any slightest economic challenge.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Uzoma Dozie, were unsuccessful as his phone number was not connecting, while the message sent to his number was not replied uptil the time of filling this report.

8 COMMENTS

  1. I learnt the bank went through some restructuring early this year, given room to some staff or units being redundant. The management should pay them severance pay and reverse the forced debits on their accounts as they were not sacked based on non perforance neither did they commit crime. My a current staff told me in confidence that different units/branches were asked to donate some staff as sacrificial lambs. This affected even some with very high perfomance ratings/appraisal. This is unfair, they should be settled so they can atleast start life as they didnt plan for it.

  2. It is very painful that an organization one has served loyally for over a decade will wake up and kick u out without a backwards glance as to how you will survive or think of all the loyal and often sacrificial work one has put in. Please diamond bank pay ur sacked staff so that they can also look after their families and meet with their responsibilities.

  3. Wonders shall never end. Despite all the noise by Diamond bank CEO on ethics, this is how they treat their staff. I wonder how they will treat customers, especially a disgruntled one.

  4. The MD don begin put him phone offline. Make him no go miss important calls o.
    Thank God for WiFi, he can always chat without receiving calls. Make una whatsapp am, him go respond ASAP.

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