Ford inks sweetened severance package

CHENNAI: Ford India Private Ltd and the Chennai Ford Employees Union (CFEU) on Friday inked the settlement agreement or the deal for severance package, said the company.

The company has also announced a `sign-off’ bonus of one month salary in addition to the lump sum severance package. US automobile major Ford Motor Company last year decided to shut down its two plants -one near here and the other in Gujarat.

The plant near here has 2,592 permanent employees.

As per Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, Transformation Office, Ford India, the final settlement package (an average equivalent of 140 days of gross wages per completed year of service and additional Rs 1.5 lakh lumpsum per employee) signed on Friday translates to an average of about 5.2 years/62-month of salary for each employee (from a minimum of 4.1 years i.e., 49 months to a maximum of 9 years ie, 108 months).

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, the company had said earlier. The last date of employment for all employees will be September 30 and Ford India is notifying employees of the next steps and looks forward to completing the exit formalities.

With Deepavali to be celebrated next month, Ford India, as a goodwill measure, has also decided to pay an additional amount equivalent to one month of gross wages as a sign-on or sign-off benefit for employees who complete the exit process by October 14.

In September 2021, Ford India announced its decision to wind down vehicle assembly in Gujarat’s Sanand by the fourth quarter of 2021, and vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai by the second quarter of 2022.