DYSON complied with the regulations when it submitted its compulsory redundancy notification to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on time, i.e. within five working days of the conduct of its redundancy exercise on October 1st.

The home appliance maker has been criticized by the Union of Electronic and Electrical Industries Workers (UWEEI) for giving just one day’s notice to the Singapore union before laying off an unspecified number of workers. UWEEI, which is affiliated to the National Trade Union Congress, said at the time it had “brought the matter to the attention of the MOM”.

However, MOM, in a media statement on Saturday (October 12), said the notice period to the union is negotiable because the dismissed Dyson employees are professionals, managers and executives (SMEs) who are not unionized and do not do not fall within the scope of the union. collective representation.

However, the law allows managers to be individually represented by unions for severance pay beyond the scope of representation in the collective agreement, in order to guarantee the interests of employees and employers.

Dyson has provided redundant workers with severance packages that are in line with the Tripartite Council on Surplus Workforce Management and Responsible Terminations, MOM said.

Dismissed employees with less than two years of service will also receive severance pay.

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Typically, workers who have served the company for at least two years are entitled to severance pay. Those with less than this duration could receive an ex gratia payment as a goodwill gesture.

Unions must be informed by employers before carrying out a layoff exercise affecting unionized workers, the standard being one month before informing employees. The goal is for the union and the company to work together to help affected employees and arrange job placement services.

The number of workers laid off by Dyson was not made public, nor was any information about the types of positions they had held.

A Dyson spokesperson did not disclose the information to Business time despite having been questioned.

The Dyson spokesperson, however, said the four-year investment forecast of S$1.5 billion for 2022 remained unchanged. Its workforce in Singapore increased by 35 percent to nearly 2,000 people in 2023.

An Economic Development Board spokesperson said in an earlier statement after the layoffs were announced that the home appliance maker maintained a “significant presence” in Singapore across its headquarters, innovation and manufacturing operations. manufacturing.