According to the newspaper, severance pay will be available by the end of May 526 people have already received it.
A total of 1,156 JSW employees are expected to benefit from the program by the end of the year. The cost of this year's benefits will amount to approximately PLN 500 million and will be covered from the state budget. In the next five years, until 2031, the value of the program is expected to exceed PLN 2 billion.
At the same time, the state will finance the so-called mining holidays for over 3,000 employees who have four to five years left until retirement. In their case, the benefit is 80%. current remuneration.
No more double clearance
As reported by “Rzeczpospolita”, For the first time in history, mechanisms were introduced to prevent abuses in the payment of social security benefits to mining workers.
The Katowice branch of the Industrial Development Agency (ARP) is responsible for verifying people applying for severance pay. It is checked whether a given person has previously used similar state-financed programs.
— The register currently numbers 112,768 people, said Mirosław Skibski, director of the Katowice branch of the ARP, in an interview with the newspaper.
Employees they must submit a declaration that they have not previously received protective benefits of a similar nature since 1994. If the verification shows that someone has already used such programs, they will not be able to receive another severance pay.
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The new regulations also provide for restrictions on people using state benefits. Receiving severance pay or going on mining leave means having to permanently leave the industry.
Rescue for JSW
The social protection program is intended to help JSW overcome the deep financial crisis. The company, which recorded a profit of approximately PLN 7 billion in 2022 thanks to high raw material prices after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, ran into serious problems in the following years.
In 2024, it recorded a loss of over PLN 7 billion, and last year the net loss amounted to PLN 6.25 billion. At the same time, the remuneration fund increased from PLN 4.6 billion in 2021 to PLN 7.4 billion two years later.
Not only miners underground
At the end of May, JSW employed 19,492 people, of which approximately 17.7 thousand worked directly in production. However, the severance pay program covers a much broader group of employees, i.e. administration, human resources, security and company office workers.
The condition for obtaining a one-off benefit is at least three years of work experience in a mining enterprise and remaining at least one year after reaching retirement age. The employer must give final consent to leave.
In addition to the government severance pay, employees may also receive additional benefits under the Act on Group Layoffs. In the case of a person with seven years of experience, this means additional severance pay equivalent to three months' salary.
