In a recovering economy and increasing unemployment rate, Fidelity Bank under the surveillance of Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe has allegedly laid off over 200 staff of the bank.

Brand News Day Nigeria gathers that the sacked Fidelity Bank staff were given their disengagement letters with just N200,000, not minding years of service as compensation after attending regional training.

According to Tola, one of the retrenched staff, “None of us had any idea what the training was going to be about. We went since it was from the bank, and we were taught how to be POS operators. I took the course at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce in Ikeja”.

After the training, Akeem Odion, Head of Operation, Fidelity Union Securities Ltd (FUSL), addressed the participants and informed them that they no longer worked for the bank. He vowed that the bank would compensate them in some way, but he had no idea how much.

Similarly, one of the affected employees identified as Patricia claimed she had to travel while pregnant, experiencing the agony only to arrive at training and be told verbally that they had been fired.

“As indicated in the correspondence, people from various branches attended the training. I travelled to Lagos from Ado-Ekiti with a three-month pregnancy, only to be informed that I had lost my job during the training. Why didn’t they just send an e-mail instead? We could have saved a lot of time and effort if we had just sent the mail directly,” she explained.

After the verbal announcement, they received emails advising them of their disengagement a few days later. The email, however, left a sour taste in the mouths of the employees because it said that they would be paid an ex-gratia rather than severance pay, as many of them expected.

“Rather than telling us we had been fired, they organized a workshop to educate us how to become independent POS operators who could still produce money for the bank even if we were fired,” another one said.

Similarly, one of the affected employees identified as Patricia claimed she had to travel while pregnant, experiencing the agony only to arrive at training and be told verbally that they had been fired.

“As indicated in the correspondence, people from various branches attended the training. I travelled to Lagos from Ado-Ekiti with a three-month pregnancy, only to be informed that I had lost my job during the training. Why didn’t they just send an e-mail instead? We could have saved a lot of time and effort if we had just sent the mail directly,” she explained.

After the verbal announcement, they received emails advising them of their disengagement a few days later. The email, however, left a sour taste in the mouths of the employees because it said that they would be paid an ex-gratia rather than severance pay, as many of them expected.

“Rather than telling us we had been fired, they organized a workshop to educate us how to become independent POS operators who could still produce money for the bank even if we were fired,” another one said.

“We know we won’t be able to work for Fidelity indefinitely, but all we want is to be paid what we’re owed.

However, some of the aggrieved staff argued that they had dedicated a significant portion of his life to the bank and, as a result, deserved a fair severance payout rather than an ex-gratia payment.

Tola said he began working at the Nnkea Onyeali-Ikpe-led Fidelity Union Securities Ltd (FUSL) in 2007 as a staff member with an Ordinary National Diploma (OND).
He and many other tellers were promised that if they sought and submitted their Higher National Diploma (HND) or undergraduate degrees, they would be promoted to full staff.

Tola isn’t the only FUSL employee that has spent that much time with the company...

The retrenched employees’ efforts to ensure that they receive a fair remuneration that is commensurate with their contributions to the bank have been fruitless.

In a corresponding capacity, Fidelity Bank, which has an appetite for controversy as since before now had portrayed a similar scenario in 2017 while drivers protested and argued for their illegal laid-off.

Recall that in 2017, about 50 dismissed drivers blocked the Fidelity Bank’s headquarters on a Monday morning because their severance payouts had not been paid.

What You Should Know About Fidelity Bank

The recently laid off 200 staff were not the first sects of staff the bank sacked in recent years.

Fidelity Bank‘s approach to laying off staff was against the banking ethics as staffers were allegedly informed through a verbal mode of communication.

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, before assuming the throne of MD/CEO, drivers of the bank were laid off in 2017 without being paid their entitlement. Marking the second massive lay-off of the bank within 5 years.

Recently, within a spere of a month or two, Fidelity Bank has made headlines for negative stories.

https://brandnewsday.com/2021/09/01/fidelity-bank-sacks-over-200-staff-verbally-amidst-high-unemployment-rate/

Op, please kindly edit. Not readable. The banking sector is not a strategic high employment creation sector like manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation so it's not surprising that technology is rightsizing their employee number.

The day day fidelity bank sacked me, I came to work and I couldn't log in . We were later told we have been sacked and paid half salary. It's been a tradition in that bank

Wow! Really?

We would like you to share the rest of the story with us, kindly reach out to us at www.brandnewsdaynigeria@gmail.com to share your story.

The post has been re-edited and readable.
However, you opined that despite the Nigerian banking sector isn't a strategic high employment sector employees should be fired without following due process?

quote author=FreeStuffsNG post=105380356]Op, please kindly edit. Not readable. The banking sector is not a strategic high employment creation sector like manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation so it's not surprising that technology is rightsizing their employee number. [/quote]

We move

BrandNewsDay:
The post has been re-edited and readable.
However, you opined that despite the Nigerian banking sector isn't a strategic high employment sector employees should be fired without following due process?

quote author=FreeStuffsNG post=105380356]Op, please kindly edit. Not readable. The banking sector is not a strategic high employment creation sector like manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation so it's not surprising that technology is rightsizing their employee number.

Thank you for editing it well. "Firing without due process " is speculative until I see their terms of employment.
Like I noticed, your report did not provide the information to help me reach this conclusion.
I am lucky to have a privileged education, mistakes and experience to guide me before concluding on this kind of reports.
Your headline is sensational and you can do better by investigating the terms of employment and seek the Labour laws position on it to help us know if there's an infraction or outright criminal intention in the process leading to the disengagement.

Just 2 days ago, Augusto & Co., reported that Nigerian banks earning for 2020 went down by close to half a trillion Nigeria ( I think around N450B) and we know that most banks reviewed their terms to reflect the era of remote working or working from home while a few banks outrightly closed some branches, I expect you to help us your reader understand the true state of the bank and if there is appropriate compensation that matches the terms of employment for those being disengaged.

Sincerely, this report can be better sir.

Banking Industry and their flimsy excuses of sacking their employees is alarming. They invited the employees for training and at the training venue they were sacked. Na wao

FreeStuffsNG:

Thank you for editing it well. "Firing without due process " is speculative until I see their terms of employment.
Like I noticed, your report did not provide the information to help me reach this conclusion.
I am lucky to have a privileged education, mistakes and experience to guide me before concluding on this kind of report.
Your headline is sensational and you can do better by investigating the terms of employment and seek the Labour laws position on it to help us know if there's an infraction or outright criminal intention in the process leading to the disengagement.

Just 2 days ago, Augusto & Co., reported that Nigerian banks earnings for 2020 went down by close to half a trillion Nigeria ( I think around N450B) and we know that most banks reviewed their terms to reflect the era of remote working or working from home while a few banks outrightly closed some branches, I expect you to help us your reader understand the true state of the bank and if there is appropriate compensation that matches the terms of employment for those being disengaged.

Sincerely, this report can be better sir.

I am amazed at what you called the used headline 'sensational headline'.

You talked about bringing forth labour law and the rules of engagement to the sacked employees. Funnily enough, it's audible to the deaf what your stands here portrays.

For whatsoever reasons, what employment conditions or policies are made verbally in a standard organisation like Fidelity Bank? Moving on, you talked about the downtrodden revenue generated by banks. Well, you're right in that aspect, just that your conflict connection with your facts and figures would put an end to what I have to say.

Kindly go through the content again and see where the staff said they were disengaged from all regions of the country. No iota reasons were stated aside from the bank training competent staff to become a POS operators.