SAS has reached a settlement with the Swedish pilot union to pay 10,000 kronor to laid-off pilots.
Reason: they were dismissed via letter, instead of in person as LAS rules stipulate.
This summer, SAS laid off 560 Swedish, Norwegian and Danish pilots, which constituted approximately 40 percent of the total pilot cadre in the corona crisis-stricken company.
In addition to salary according to contract and employment rules during the notice period, usually six months, SAS must now pay 10,000 to the affected Swedish pilots. This is because they received the notice by email, at the same time as the formalities in the Employment Protection Act prescribes that notices of termination should be given in person (or if unreasonable by registered letter).
The Swedish Pilots' Association (SPF) has filed a lawsuit against SAS over this during the autumn, and now states in a recent member email that Di has seen that a settlement has been reached:
”"SPF has accepted the employer's settlement offer that 10,000 SEK will be paid to each affected pilot," the email states.
At the same time, it appears that there is still disagreement between unions and employers about what the termination date for individual pilots should be. Most were set for July 1, without taking into account the individual circumstances of individual pilots.
”"The process of getting these dates adjusted is not complete as negotiations at the local level ended in disagreement," SPF writes.
Karin Nyman, communications director at SAS, confirms to Di that a settlement has been reached but states that it only affects 22 pilots and not 260 as Di wrote in an earlier version.
Norwegian John Eckhoff, press manager at SAS, then says that the company tried to reach the people who were to be laid off in several ways, including telephone and Microsoft's communication software Teams, but when this was unsuccessful, contact was made via email - which a number of those laid off complained about, as they did not feel that SAS had tried hard enough to reach them personally.
”We considered the matter too small to take to the labor court, and agreed to a settlement,” he says.
