- As Access Bank Justifies Planned Staff Disengagement
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee Sunday halted the wave of mass lay-off emerging in the banking industry occasioned by the COVID-19-induced economic crisis.
It had been widely predicted that many employers of labour, including the banks, would massively disengage their employees in order to remain profitably in business as a result of the negative impact of the ravaging COVID-19 on the global economy.
Nigeria’s Tier-1 lender, Access Bank Plc, had recently embarked on the plan of disengagement of a large number of its workers, a measure that attracted strident condemnation both within and outside the industry.
In a statement signed by the CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, the apex bank disclosed that a special meeting of the Bankers’ Committee had resolved to suspend the implementation of lay-offs in the industry.
The statement disclosed that special meeting of the Bankers’ Committee convened on May2, 2020, “to further review the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian banking industry” decided that no bank should retrench or lay-off any staff of any cadre without the express approval of the CBN.
“The Committee particularly deliberated on the issue of the operating costs of banks in view of the disruptions emanating from the global economic difficulties and decided as follows:
“In order to help minimize and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and livelihoods, no bank in Nigeria shall retrench or lay-off any staff of any cadre (including full-time and part-time).
“To give effect to the above measure, the express approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria shall be required in the event that it becomes absolutely necessary to lay-off any such staff.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria solicits the support of all in our collective effort to weather through the economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Meanwhie, Access Bank Plc had explained its decision to disengage with the services of about 75 per cent of its employees, arguing that those affected were contract staff.
In a statement released over the weekend by the bank’s Corporate Communications Department, the lender justified the decision to disengage the workers, insisting that those penciled down for sack “are outsourced staff such as cleaners, messengers, dispatch riders, note counters, drivers etc.”
Part of the statement read: “Following a strategic retreat in preparation for post- Covid-19 operations, the Management of Access Bank Plc is taking a bold step to realign the Bank’s operations to fit the gradual unlocking of the economy as announced by the Federal Government.
“The Bank has resolved not to sack any staff opting instead for minimal cuts in pay check for the recession period while at the same time reducing to the minimum, the required doses of outsourced services rendered by Contractors.
“For example, as the lifting of the lockdown unfolds, some of the bank branches may not be operational for now and as a result, outsourced staff such as cleaners, messengers, dispatch riders, note counters, drivers etc., may not be needed.
“The bank would be contacting the affected service providers stating a significant reduction in the number of their employees that would be needed.
“Access Bank, like many institutions, outsources most of its non-bank functions (such as security, cleaning, etc.). These workers are not employees of the bank. They are primary employees of third-party contractors.
“The realignment in strategy became necessary in view of the need to position the financial institution to optimize its potentials amidst the global effect of Covid-19 on businesses, economies, manufacturing and banking services worldwide.
“It is part of the bank’s Drive for greater efficiency to enable it withstand global economic recession”.
The Bankers’ Committee is an umbrella body of CBN officials and managing directors of deposit money banks (DMBs).