Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wescast downsizes its workforce by 250 positions at its Oroszlány plant, due to the coronavirus crisis. So far, 55 agency workers and 73 Wescast employees lost their jobs, and more than a hundred additional employees are expected to be laid off soon.
Wescast suspended production between 25 April and 11 May and put workers on downtime. During the temporary closure, the workers are legally entitled to their basic salary, but the firm refused to pay it, citing unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances. At the same time, according to union representatives, the management informed the affected workers about the downsizing and said that the firm would pay termination payment and would observe the statutory period of notice if they agree to leave the firm by mutual agreement. The firm did not notify the authorities about a mass layoff because, according to the management, the large-scale downsizing of the workforce mostly by mutual agreements does not amount to a mass layoff.
The trade union does not agree with this assessment, and also says that the firm should pay the downtime payment to its employees retroactively since the coronavirus crisis is not a force majeure but rather a business risk.
Wescast is a leading producer of exhaust manifolds for passenger cars and vans. The firm was hit heavily by the cancellation of many previous orders due to the coronavirus crisis.
Eurofound (2020), Wescast Hungary, Internal restructuring in Hungary, factsheet number 100740, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/100740.