MS TIERNEY — To ask the Minister for Employment and Trade: In relation to the 38 job losses at the Mars factory in Ballarat: what assistance has the Baillieu government provided Mars workers in Ballarat who have recently been made redundant.
ANSWER:
I am informed that:
The Department of Business and Innovation contacted Mars chocolate in Ballarat in March 2012 to discuss the current status of the business and the conditions and timing of voluntary redundancies, including payment of employee entitlements and the level of employer support available for affected staff, as part of the company’s ‘Ballarat Transformation Project’. A total of 38 employees accepted redundancies under this program which was oversubscribed.
The Department offered to coordinate information and support for affected employees from the relevant government agencies and service providers. This included the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Workers in Transition Program for retraining opportunities.