ING offers payouts to laid off flex workers

Workers let go before July 1 will be offered an additional compensation package, ING announced on Wednesday. The bank ruffled feathers with its plan to release workers by the end of June, beating out enforcement of new rules requiring severance pay for those working on temporary and flexible contracts. ING claims that a decision was reached to provide compensation to employees fired between January 1 and July 1, it said in a statement.. To be entitled to a payout, the former employee must have worked at the company for at least two years prior to termination of their contract. Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher, who heads up the Ministry of Social Affairs, called the plan to get around government rules "outrageous," saying, "ING now has the opportunity and obligation to prove that it is a financial institution that stands in the middle of society."