Danish Logistics Group Proposes Redundancy Scheme for Swiss Freight Forwarding Staff

SWITZERLAND – When logistics giant DSV took control of freight forwarding group Panalpina it was inevitable, as in all such cases, that this would mean redundancies for an amount of employees.

To mitigate the problems which naturally arise DSV Panalpina has decided to offer a voluntary and unilateral social plan to all Panalpina head office employees in Basel affected by the announced redundancies which will take place in Q4-2019 and H1-2020.

During the last two weeks negotiations have resulted in a better understanding of expectations on both sides after initially both parties were unable to reach agreement and, as a result, significant improvements have been made to DSV Panalpina’s original proposal.

The company is still in dialogue with employee representatives and continues negotiations. If, ultimately, negotiations remain unsuccessful, the next step is arbitration, which DSV Panalpina says would mean an additional long period of uncertainty. DSV Panalpina has decided to voluntarily implement the measures proposed in its latest offer to the employee representatives in a bid to avoid any such delay.These are:

• Individual career coaching sessions
• Career assessment workshops
• Expert workshops, including ‘CV-Factory’ or ‘Social Media’
• On-site career centre with weekly job postings and matching opportunities
• Referral to key staffing companies and ad-hoc counselling

In addition, DSV Panalpina is prepared to grant severance payments and other benefits that support vulnerable employee groups and acknowledges loyalty to Panalpina, to include:

• Severance payments of 2-6 months for eligible employees
• Financial support for early retirement (available from age 58)
• Additional consideration in personal hardship cases
• Best effort to place redundant employees on garden leave

DSV Panalpina hosted a town hall meeting at the Panalpina head office on 18 November 2019 to present the voluntary social plan in detail to employees as well as answer any questions from the floor. The voluntary social plan will not be released in its entirety as the company remains open to further negotiations. Negotiations and related processes are in full compliance with Swiss labour law and are overseen by HR and legal professionals.

Photo: DSV corporate HQ in Hedehusene.