Page 100 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

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different instrument is a ‘trial employment contract’ ( ), by which the
employee is guaranteed to be allowed back into the transfer company
should his new employment relationship not be successful or satisfactory.
For this purpose, the transfer company contract can be suspended for up to
six months;
(g) unofficially, legal counselling is also provided on newly concluded
employment contracts.
The precise combination of these components is agreed with the customer
company on the basis of the budget available and employee’s needs. Generally,
all instruments are applied to a greater or lesser extent. Whereas the costs of
outplacement and transfer agency services have to be borne by the customer
company, transfer companies are partly financed publicly: 50% of total costs,
maximum EUR 2 500 per employee.
AutoVision informs corporate customers about EU funding opportunities,
mostly for qualification measures and business start-up training, and helps them
with the application procedures.

6.1.4. Cooperation and external capacity
AutoVision uses external capacity in job application training, qualification and
business start-up training, through private educational institutions, whose
services are closely monitored. Partners have to adhere to AutoVision’s concepts
of transfer services. A further criterion is previous success in restructuring
projects.
Cooperation and exchange with PES on job search, and especially in the
career planning component, is regarded as fruitful. For each transfer company,
the local employment agency has to approve the details of the contractual
design. The degree to which employment agencies are willing to accept unusual
or employee-specific terms varies considerably from region to region. Overall,
interviewees assert that both the cooperation and the quality of PES services
have improved over the last decade. Most notably, the PES advisers to
companies undergoing restructuring have acquired a broader range of relevant
competences.
AudioVision cannot provide these services on its own, especially qualification
measures. Cooperation with external partners increases opportunities for skills
development, and therefore employability, of employees as well as their access
to information about vacancies and alternative occupations.
Two constraints or obstacles to effective cooperation were mentioned. First, in
some qualification initiatives, private educational institutions failed to provide the

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( ) German: ‘Probearbeitsverhältnis’.

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