Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The special administrator of the Federal Bank of Middle East (FBME Cyprus) has informed 131 to 136 of the Banks' 161 employees in Nicosia and Limassol, that their employment will be terminated on 1st of April 2016, Cyprus media reported. Affected employees were paid their salary for March and will receive any other benefits they were entitled to according to the law. Around 30 of the Bank's employees will continue working for the bank, provided they they want to. The special administrator was appointed by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) in July 2014 on allegations of money laundering expressed by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In December 2015 the CBS has revoked the operation's licence of FBME and has applied to the district court of Nicosia for its liquidation.
According to local media, the special administrator has resorted to the dismissal of the Bank's employees with the intention to minimise the expenses to a minimum during the liquidation procedure and thus secure the interests of the Bank's depositors.
It is noteworthy that FBME considers the dismissals as illegal, as well as the liquidation, and is going to challenge these decisions in court.
The FBME Cyprus is a subsidiary of Tanzania's FBME Bank.
Eurofound (2016), Federal Bank of Middle East (FBME), Other in Cyprus, factsheet number 87265, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/87265.