Perlos denies preventing employees from seeking work elsewhere

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Mobile telephone cover manufacturer Perlos has denied reports that it is trying to prevent employees facing termination from taking other jobs.
      Perlos announced in January that it needs to cut its 1,400 workforce in Finland by about 1,200. The move mainly effects Joensuu and Kontiolahti in North Karelia.
      On Friday it was reported that Perlos is holding on to its workers on the basis of a confidentiality clause in the present employment contract. Under the clause, employees are not allowed to use technmiques, skills, or knowledge acquired while working at Perlos; a former employee who takes a job where the skills and information can be of use, would be required to forfeit up to one year's pay.
      Perlos CEO Matti Virtanen said on Saturday that the company is simply adhering to labour contract legislation and the severance periods, as defined in the labour contracts. These periods vary from two weeks to three months, depending on the task involved.
      Virtanen also said that the amount of notice that an employee is expected to give is negotiable, and that decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis.
     
Virtanen expressed regret over what he sees as a misunderstanding, and says that the company has done all it can to support the re-employment prospects of its personnel. He notes that Perlos has worked with local labour exchanges, municipal leaders of Joensuu and Kontiolahti, as well as entrepreneurs in the Joensuu region to improve outplacement prospects.
      Shop stewards at Perlos also disputed claims that Perlos employees had been prevented from taking other jobs.
      However, Markku Palokangas, head of negotiations at the Union of Salaried Employees (TU), was sticking to the claims he made on Friday. He said that Perlos has impeded office workers from taking on new jobs, based on the confidentiality agreement, and the ongoing co-determination talks on job cuts.
      Palokangas says that the issue mainly applies to white-collar employees, but a small number of blue-collar workers are also involved.
      Meanwhile, Esa Timonen, head shop steward for salaried employees at Perlos, said that two weeks had been set as the time of notice, and he believes that in the talks that continue on Tuesday, there will be an agreement that the confidentiality clause would not be used to keep employees from accepting new employment.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Perlos employees stage walkout to protest planned closure (17.1.2007)
  Perlos plans to shut down manufacturing in Finland - 1,200 jobs to go (16.1.2007)

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