Customs to lay off employees

[NewsWhore]

The Customs Department has announced that it will be laying off 2,500 employees over the next seven months in order to comply with International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements, the restructuring established for DR-CAFTA and Law 226-06 on customs autonomy. Diario Libre reports that one thousand workers were dismissed yesterday. Customs Department Director, Miguel Cocco met with more than 100 employees and explained that although Customs does not normally consider awarding severance pay, this time an exception will be made because they are non-voluntary terminations. RD$187 million has been allocated towards compensating those dismissed, and a further RD$55 million will be paid to people who have worked at customs for more than five years. Cocco said that the department has just over 6,000 employees and it would have cut this number down by 40%.

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