Malta court injunction puts NetEnt redundancies on hold

Malta’s Superior Court has issued an injunction placing 324 scheduled NetEnt redundancies on hold after the General Workers Union (GWU) filed an industrial dispute against Evolution. News of the injunction broke late on Friday afternoon, after the GWU claimed it had been excluded from Evolution’s restructuring and redundancy process following its takeover of NetEnt. The redundancies were enacted earlier this month by Evolution, but the GWU cited a lack of engagement from the live casino giant and breaches of collective redundancy and transfer of undertakings rules. EGR understands the GWU and Evolution have since held several meetings surrounding the redundancies, but these talks have failed to resolve the dispute prior to the court case. A special hearing at the Malta Superior Court will address arguments from both sides on 17 December, with affected NetEnt employees eagerly awaiting a swift resolution amid the confusion. The bulk of the Malta-based redundancies were in the NetEnt Live business, which was completely shut down by Evolution, including the closure of a live studio in Qormi. Redundancies were also made across offices in Stockholm, Krakow and London. EGR revealed earlier this week that Evolution sought to accelerate the departure of former NetEnt employees by offering additional financial incentives to accept a resignation package instead of waiting out the required redundancy notice period. “Thanks to the Court’s intervention following our urgent request, 324 illegal dismissals have now been put on hold,” a representative from the GWU told Malta Independent. “We will continue to insist that NetEnt and Evolution honour their consultation obligations in full, and we will do our utmost to ensure that jobs are saved, and, where that is not possible, that appropriate compensation is paid,” the GWU added.