AREA managers at Irish Life met company representatives yesterday to express their dissatisfaction with plans for radical changes in work practices.
Area and sales managers, who are not happy with plans to redeploy them under the company's move to streamline the structure of its sales force, feel they should be offered the option of redundancy.
But the company maintains that because it is "redefining roles" within the sales force rather than cutting numbers, a redundancy package is "inappropriate".
"There are jobs, responsibilities and roles for everyone involved," a company spokesman insisted. But for 32 managers the change will mean the loss of managerial status. Irish Life insists there will be no reduction in remuneration packages.
Announced last November, Irish Life's plans involve a radical restructuring of the life assurance group's field sales force aimed at cutting costs by 25 per cent over two years and increasing soaks.
Under the plan to streamline the sales force, the number of regional managers will be increased from three to six. But the grade of area manager - of which there are now 14 - will disappear and the number of sales managers will be cut to 50 from 70.
The area managers and 20 of the sales managers are to become personal financial advisers (PFAs) under the company's plan. Managers who do not want to become PFAs have been offered the option of becoming self employed, tied "corporate agents". The company would contribute to their start up costs.
The company and the MSF union, which represents the managers, have had a number of meetings at the Labour Relations Commission. One of the most contentious issues, affecting some 350 sales staff in addition to the managers, is the company's plan to change the method of calculating commission payments for sales staff.
