Ford, workers’ union finally agree on severance pay; pact to be inked soon

CHENNAI: Ford India has revised the final severance settlement to an average equivalent of 140 days of gross wages per completed year of service from the ongoing offer of 130 days, which has been accepted by the workers.

General secretary of Chennai Ford Employees Union Senthil Kumar said they accepted the revised package by Ford India. “We will be signing the mutual agreement with the management by month end. We are awaiting the agreement copy,” said Senthil.

According to the deal reached by the management and Ford employees Union, an additional one-time lump sum of Rs 1.5 lakh will also be included in the final settlement. “The cumulative severance for each employee will range from a minimum amount of Rs 34.5 lakh and a maximum cap of Rs 86.5 lakh (i.e., translating to an average of Rs 44.8 lakh per employee). The revised settlement will translate to an average of about 5.1 years/ 62-month of salary for each employee (from a minimum of 3.9 years i.e., 47 months to a maximum of 8.7 years i.e., 105 months), a Ford India spokesman said.

Ford said in a statement that the formal settlement agreement is planned to be executed before the end of this month (i.e., September 2022). The Company will notify employees of the next steps and looks forward to completing the exit formalities by September 30, 2022. 

“The Company will continue paying wages to all employees till September 30 to support the exit formalities and remains grateful to the Union as well as Tamil Nadu Government and Labor Officials for their support,” the statement said.

Since the announcement of business restructuring last September, Ford has continuously made efforts to negotiate a severance package with the Union, spanning nearly 70  meetings, including meetings with labour authorities and senior government officials.