Staff at Ulster Bank have approved terms of a redundancy package that will see 950 employees leave the bank, according to union representatives.

The proposals will see departing staff receive four weeks’ salary per year of service, including statutory entitlements, capped at 104 weeks’ pay, said a spokesman for the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), which balloted its members on the deal.

Staff leaving the bank will also receive €2,500 in training grants, and there will be an early retirement plan for as many as 50 people over 55 years old.

Members of the IBOA backed the proposals, which have also been accepted by Ulster Bank, by a “significant majority”, the IBOA spokesman said.

The IBOA in February rejected an offer from Ulster Bank, which is seeking to eliminate 950 jobs, to pay 3½ weeks’ salary per year of service, also subject to a cap of 104 weeks.

A third-party mediator, Martin King, had recommended the most recent package to both sides.

The bank is looking to cut costs by €80 million. Of this, €60 million is earmarked to come from a reduction in payroll through the redundancy programme.

Rival bank AIB is still discussing terms of a redundancy programme that will see 2,500 staff leave that bank. – (Bloomberg)