Information to the employees

Unfortunately, due to the termination of flight operations and the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, the employment contracts of most employees have to be terminated. A vast majority of employees will therefore be dismissed in that process.

The opening of bankruptcy proceedings has the following consequences for the employees of SkyWork:

• Wages may only be paid out for work actually performed after the opening of bankruptcy on 6 September 2018 and with the prior consent of SkyWork as well as the Bankruptcy Office in charge. The bankrupt's estate (Konkursmasse) will expressly not enter into any further employment relationships.

• All remaining claims arising from the employment contract may not be settled by the bankrupt's estate at this time. In particular, no claims arising before 6 September 2018 (3 p.m.) may be paid. Even employees who have been given notice or have been dismissed will not receive any wage payments for the period between their dismissal and the end of the period of notice. However, these amounts receivable, which cannot be paid at the moment, remain in force. They will later be assessed within the framework of bankruptcy proceedings and, as the case may be, paid out within the framework of any existing privileges and available funds.

• As far as wage payments can no longer be made, there is a claim to possible insolvency or unemployment compensation according to sections 2 and 3 below.

If there are outstanding amounts receivable from your employment which arose in the last four months before 6 September 2018, you may be entitled to compensation for insolvency.

Any application for insolvency compensation has to be filed within 60 day of the publication of the bankruptcy. The Public Unemployment Insurance Fund of the Canton of Berne is then responsible for paying insolvency compensation.

Within the next days, the human resources manager of SkyWork will provide employees with relevant information for filing for insolvency compensation.

Employees who have been dismissed or released from work and who are no longer employed during the period of notice and therefore no longer receive wage payments have the possibility to receive unemployment compensation already during the period of notice. After a waiting period (0 to 15 days), the unemployment compensation amounts to 70% or 80% of the gross wage (in the case of maintenance obligations or low daily allowances).

If your employment is or has been terminated, you should therefore register immediately with the relevant Regional Employment Agency (RAV). It is important to register as early as possible, as unemployment compensation will not be paid retroactively. In order to be entitled to unemployment compensation, you must also apply for a new place of employment during the notice period.

Once you have registered with the RAV, you can submit an application for unemployment compensation to a Public Unemployment Insurance Fund of your choice. Contact addresses for the RAV and the Public Unemployment Insurance Funds in your canton of domicile can be found here.