PARTNER COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES THE ENTRY INTO A SPECIAL COLLECTIVE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT VALID UNTIL December 31, 2024

Rhea-AI Summary

Partner Communications Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTNR) announced a Special Collective Employment Agreement effective until December 31, 2024. This agreement includes a 3.5% salary increase for eligible employees in 2023 and 2024, along with profit-sharing mechanisms starting in 2023. The estimated cost of this agreement is approximately NIS 20.3 million for 2022 and NIS 41.6 million for both subsequent years. Additionally, the company commits to maintaining its assets without downsizing until at least the end of 2024. The prior labor dispute from April 2022 is now resolved.

Positive

• Implementation of a salary increase mechanism of 3.5% for eligible employees in 2023 and 2024.
• Introduction of employee profit-sharing starting in 2023, contingent on company performance.
• Resolution of the labor dispute from April 2022, ensuring labor peace until December 31, 2024.

Negative

• The estimated costs of the agreement could impact profitability, totaling around NIS 41.6 million for 2023 and 2024.

ROSH HA'AYIN, Israel,, July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner" or the "Company") (NASDAQ and TASE: PTNR), a leading Israeli communications operator, announced today that further to the Company's report dated December 14, 2021 regarding the signing of a collective employment agreement for a period of three years until December 31, 2024 (the "Collective Employment Agreement"), the Company, the employees' representatives and the Histadrut New General Labor Organization (the "Parties"), signed a special collective employment agreement, that is valid until December 31, 2024 (the "Special Collective Employment Agreement"), that regulates, among other things,  a salary increase mechanism for the years 2023 and 2024 and a mechanism for employee participation in the Company's profits from year 2023 onwards.

The Special Collective Employment Agreement grants the employees, among other things, salary increases for each of the years 2023 and 2024 in the amount of 3.5% for employees with a seniority of at least 1.5 years, to be differentially allocated, special salary increases for the years 2023 and 2024 for employees with a seniority of at least 4 years with salaries that do not exceed the salary level set forth in the Special Collective Employment Agreement; a mechanism for employee participation in the Company's profits starting in 2023 in accordance with the Company meeting its targets and a one-time retention grant for employees with a seniority of at least 2 years, to be differentially allocated.

The Special Collective Employment Agreement will include the Company's statement that at least until December 31, 2024, it will maintain the Company's assets (the cellular network and the fiber network) under its ownership at least as the situation is on the day of signing the Special Collective Employment Agreement, and will not take streamlining or downsizing termination steps, except in specific cases, and subject to the agreement of the employee representatives.

The Special Collective Employment Agreement exhausts the Parties' claims until December 31, 2024, for the matters settled therein, including all matters pertaining to participation in profits, salary increases and acquisition of control of the Company and the Parties' undertaking to maintain industrial silence on matters regulated therein. As a result, the labor dispute that was announced on April 12, 2022 is cancelled.

The estimated cost of the matters included in the Special Collective Employment Agreement (not including the cost of employee participation in the Company's profits that is conditional upon future results) is approximately NIS 20.3 million for the year 2022 and approximately NIS 41.6 million for both of the years 2023 and 2024.

For further information please see the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 – "Item 3. Key Information - 3D.2j - The unionization of our employees has negatively affected and may continue to affect our financial results" and "Item 6 DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES - 6D. Employees".

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements, as this term is defined in Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe-harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "will", "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "strive", "seek", "plan", "could", "may", "foresee", "target", "objective", "goal", declensions thereof and similar expressions typically convey forward-looking statements, but these words are not the only words that convey these statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current knowledge and our present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including potential difficulties which may arise from the signing of the collective employment agreement and its financial impact on the Company.

About Partner Communications

Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner") is a leading Israeli provider of telecommunications services (cellular, fixed-line telephony, internet and television services). Partner's ADSs are quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market™ and its shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NASDAQ and TASE: PTNR).

For more information about Partner see:

http://www.partner.co.il/en/Investors-Relations/lobby/

Contacts: 

Mr. Tamir Amar, Deputy CEO & Chief Financial Officer, Tel: +972-54-781-4951

Mr. Amir Adar, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Projects, Tel: +972-54-781-5051, Email: investors@partner.co.il

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SOURCE Partner Communications Company Ltd.

FAQ

What is the content of Partner Communications' Special Collective Employment Agreement?

The agreement includes salary increases of 3.5% for eligible employees in 2023 and 2024, along with profit-sharing mechanisms and a commitment to maintain assets without downsizing until December 31, 2024.

How much will the Special Collective Employment Agreement cost Partner Communications?

The estimated cost is approximately NIS 20.3 million for 2022 and NIS 41.6 million for both 2023 and 2024.

When does the Special Collective Employment Agreement expire?

The agreement is valid until December 31, 2024.

What was resolved by the new Special Collective Employment Agreement for PTNR?

The agreement resolved a prior labor dispute announced on April 12, 2022, ensuring that no downsizing would occur without agreement from employee representatives until the end of 2024.