Vodafone offers ‘golden handshakes’ to retrenched staff

The Vodafone Group is offering generous payouts, or ‘golden handshakes’, to its strong performers who could not be accommodated in the new entity created by the merger of its India unit with Idea Cellular, said people familiar with the development.

They also said that the company is offering the executives their monthly salary multiplied by the number of years they have put in at the UK-headquartered telecom operator.

“The golden handshakes have been given from Level 1 to Level 4. It is a very generous offer and is in line with how the group manages its separation policy,” said an executive aware of the development. Level 1is the top-rung in the hierarchy, while senior managers fall into the Level 4 category.

Although the overall number isn’t known, as many as 70 executives are likely to have received it till now, said the people.

A golden handshake is used to describe the severance package offered when an employee is retrenched, and is given only to those valued by the company, or the top brass whose offer letters have this clause built in. In case of Vodafone, if the employee has worked for five years and his monthly income is Rs 5 lakh, then he will be given Rs 25 lakh.

“It is in the core DNA of both the organisations to treat all people with respect, dignity, and embrace everyone in a culture of care,” said Vodafone in an emailed response to ET’s queries.

“We propose to create a great organisation combining the best from both Vodafone India and Idea cellular once the merger is formally approved by the authorities. The new company shall make appointments on the basis of ‘best person for the job’ principle using a fair, equitable and transparent process of selection,” Vodafone explained.

Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are awaiting a cursory nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the last clearance they need before they can register their merged entity — Vodafone Idea Ltd, — which will remain listed.

The new company — which will be India’s largest telco with over 440 million subscribers and 34.7% revenue market share — will start with some Rs 60,000 crore in revenue and about Rs 1,25,000 crore in debt, including the Rs 90,000 crore owed to the government for various spectrum auctions.