Financial distress leads to dismissals at Frisian school
This summer six full-time jobs have to disappear at the Christian Mavo De Saad in Friesland due to a financial shortage. The board signed the social plan for this yesterday.
Picture: Type tank
The CLA for secondary education states that staff members can only be forcibly dismissed two years after concluding a social plan. “You then have the time to guide people to other work,” says AObdistrict manager Marja de Bree. "You can often avoid forced redundancies like this."
Emergency
Due to the acute shortage at the Frisian school in Damwâld, that time is not there now. “Last financial year we had a financial deficit of five hundred thousand euros,” says Jantine van der Kooij, director of De Saad. That is why six full-time jobs must disappear within three months by 15 August.
District manager De Bree: “In emergency situations, schools can fire staff members sooner after taking out a social plan than after two years. This exception is also stated in the collective labor agreement. Unfortunately, we couldn't help but agree. The financial situation is such that action must be taken quickly. It is a pity that the school has not previously anticipated the decline in the number of pupils, so that forced dismissal could have been prevented through a two-year social plan. ”
The situation is such that immediate action is required
According to Van der Kooij, a total of 7 out of 35 people have to look for new work. They have heard before the May holiday that they will lose their job. “The hardest blows fall to the support services and management,” says the director.
Shrinkage
The shrinkage is the main cause. Van der Kooij: “We had a 34 percent drop in student numbers in recent years. The entire flexible shell was already out and we also had a mobility policy to guide people to other work. There are no other options now. Funding is falling and we can now do nothing but cut the permanent workforce. That hurts enormously. ”
We can do nothing but cut the permanent workforce. That hurts a lot
The staff members receive help from the school to find new work and a severance scheme. The employees receive the statutory transition allowance and, if they do not immediately find other work, unemployment benefit and unemployment benefit extra statutory.
Partnerships
“There is a lot of talk about the teacher shortage, but in this shrinking region we are still concluding social plans”, says De Bree. "It is difficult to find a permanent job here." Staff members also cannot work at schools within the board, because it is a one-man job. Van der Kooij says that the school is too small to continue alone. “I see opportunities for cooperation with another school board so that our school can continue to exist. That would be nice, because the significance for the village and the students is great. We want to keep that. "
