BOPEC employees receive severance pay
The RCN unit of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) has paid severance pay to 52 employees of BOPEC. Severance pay or ‘cessantia’ is a one-off compensation for an employee who is fired without fault of his or her own. The employer is obliged to pay this compensation. However, because BOPEC has been declared bankrupt, the RCN unit of SZW stands as guarantee. It concerns a total amount of approximately 1 million dollars.
The procedure has been completed urgently, taking into account the situation in which employees have not received a salary for several months. The amount of severance pay per person depends on the number of years of service. For each year that the employee has been employed, he or she is entitled to a weekly salary, based on the last-earned wage. For example, an employee who has been employed for 10 years receives a severance payment equal to 10 weeks of salary. The RCN unit of SZW pays out a net amount.
For the time being, 24 staff members will remain working for the curator of BOPEC. This is necessary to monitor the installations and to secure the site. For the time being these employees receive their salary through the temporary estate loan made available by the Public Entity of Bonaire (OLB).
Head of the RCN unit of SZW, Eric Brakke, is pleased with the collaboration: “All parties involved see the importance to support the affected employees. Thanks to a smooth cooperation between the curator, the administration of BOPEC, the OLB and our organisation, we could make this payment on a short term. ”