More than 600 bankers applied for early retirement with KB Kookmin Bank after the country’s largest lender threw in more generous terms for the new round of early retirement as it grapples with labor dispute over wage terms.

The bank broadened eligibility for early retirement program to as many as 2,100 employees out of its total 17,629 payroll, up from 1,800 heads eligible last year that drew 407 applicants. It also offered extra three months in severance pay for this year’s applicants. Early retirees are compensated with base salaries of 21 to 39 months in severance pay.

This year’s applicants also can choose company subsidy for tuition fees for offspring or their own retraining expenses. The bank also would cover medical checkup fees for the former employees and their spouses until 2020.

After selecting qualified applicants, the lender will implement personnel reshuffle that has been postponed due to the wage confrontation, according to an official.

KB Kookmin Bank received 3,200 voluntary retirement applications in October 2010, the largest among local banks. Since 2015, hundreds to thousands have left the bank earlier than official retirement age every year.

The labor union of the bank went on a general strike last Tuesday for the first time in 19 years after more than 96 percent of some 12,000 unionized workers voted in favor of the walkout to protest its wage payment system. The two sides still remain at odds over collective bargaining terms for this year despite lengthy negotiations over the weekends. The union has filed for state arbitration.

By Kim Tae-sung and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]