NIGERIA/CAMEROON/GABON ADDAX PETROLEUM STAFF IN A STEW OVER SEVERANCE PACKAGE

摘要

There is a high chance that the atmosphere will be somewhat subdued at the party organised by and for Addax Petroleum’s staff at the Brasserie des Halles de l’Ile in Geneva on November 30. Most of the Chinese managers and directors have not been invited, as the group itself did not organise the event. According to our sources, the majority of the group’s 170 Swiss-based employees were not offered a position within the parent company Sinopec’s Beijing headquarters. This means, following Addax’s decision to close its Genevan offices, they will be need to leave the group in December and should receive a severance pay based on their years of service. This could range between several months to several years of wages. However, nothing is expected to be paid out before 2018. The employees are concerned that their former employer will simply not pay up, given that Addax will no longer have any presence in Switzerland and any room for appeal through the courts in China will likely be extremely complicated. Of the current management team in Switzerland, excluding the Chinese staff, only a handful will continue to be directly employed by the group at its Beijing offices. This includes new chief legal officer, Sebastien van Roosmalen, who replaced the powerful Guus Klusener (see p. 8). Several auditing staff members were also offered a position in China.