Unions at Hrvatski Telekom (HT) on Wednesday accused the company’s management of plans to reduce salaries for employees in T-centers and illegal layoffs, threatening protests, but management dismisses the union’s accusations, claiming that the introduction of a variable pay model will result in “increased salaries for employees who achieve business goals.”
>>>HT’s revenues rose 11 percent last year, net profit fell 7.5 percent
President of the Republic Union of Workers of Croatia, Ivan Majdak, stated at a press conference that HT’s management is, for the umpteenth time, “under the guise of rewarding employees attempting to carry out their exploitation” as they offer employees new employment contracts and salary reductions of five to 15 percent without the consent of social partners.
Salary Reduction as Employee Stimulation
This way, management, Majdak said, wants to control as much of the employees’ salary as possible, with new criteria and business goals being set every month that employees must meet.
In doing so, management claims that the salary reduction is a stimulation for employees to work better, even though they will be working for lower salaries than agency workers at HT.
Union representatives expect that most employees will sign new employment contracts out of fear as they have no other option. They accuse management of ignoring calls for dialogue, forcing unions and workers to courts and the streets to resolve their issues.
>>>HT is laying off about 60 workers, average severance pay is 230,000 kuna
President of the Croatian Telecommunications Union, Juko Cikojević, asserted that management is again carrying out illegal layoffs of employment contracts, and unions learned about the surplus of workers through the media.
The employer is laying off permanent workers to hire new ones who are not qualified and who, after learning the job, leave the company due to dissatisfaction with their status and earnings, says Cikojević.
President of the Independent Croatian Unions, Krešimir Sever, warned that HT continuously lays off people, especially since 2014 and the arrival of the new management, replacing older workers with cheaper workers through agencies or students.
The salary of workers in call centers is only about eight hundred kuna higher than the gross minimum wage in Croatia, said Sever.
Union representatives say they have not closed the door on management, but they will not serve as a “fig leaf” for anyone and will take all legal steps to ensure the employer abandons the salary reductions. They believe that the workers’ salary at HT must not be below 6,000 kuna gross.
Member of HT’s Management Board, Nataša Rapaić, stated that with the introduction of the variable pay model in HT centers, salaries for all employees who achieve business goals are increasing.
New Model Allows for 30 Percent Higher Salaries
The new model allows them to receive salaries up to 30 percent higher, claims Rapaić, adding that more than 75 percent of employees have already accepted the benefits of this new model. With the new model, the average salary in the centers rises to 8,800 kuna, which also brings a range of other benefits for employees when they go on annual leave, when they are on sick leave, or when they need creditworthiness.
Management, she said, supports dialogue with the unions, but they cannot run the company as business decisions are the responsibility of management.
Regarding layoffs, there are currently about sixty planned, and they are not related to the new salary model. Layoffs occur because it is a sector undergoing significant changes, which is why the company needs new competencies, and there is no longer a need for older competencies.
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Member of the Management Board responsible for human resources, Marija Felkel, says that layoffs are not the only option as several other job positions are offered to workers.
She noted that all employee benefits at HT are above the legal level and collective agreements, while severance packages average 230,000 kuna and include six additional salaries for socially vulnerable categories.
Regarding claims of low salaries, management states that 63 percent of employees receive salaries above the Croatian average, and for students and agency workers, they are employed in temporary jobs, in accordance with the laws.
