Unilever has agreed to safeguard the employment terms of its European and UK ice cream workforce for at least three years following the spin-off of the division, according to a company source.

The commitment, confirmed in a memo seen by Reuters, ensures that the 6,000 employees within the ice cream arm, which manages a portfolio that includes brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Wall’s and Magnum, will retain their current salaries, bonuses, pensions, share plans and holidays until at least 2027.

“Working conditions will be protected for at least three years and cannot be worsened,” the European Works Council wrote to Unilever employees on Tuesday, following nearly a year of negotiations.

Under UK and EU law, worker contracts can typically be changed one year after a spin-off or sale, meaning this extended protection exceeds the standard legal minimum.

The decision is expected to give workers greater security during a period of significant change for the global FMCG giant.

Unilever first announced its plan to separate its £15bn ice cream division in March 2024, as part of a major cost-saving overhaul that included cutting around 7,500 jobs globally.

Initially, the consumer good manufacturer said 3,200 of those layoffs were expected to hit Europe. However, that figure has since been revised downward as employees were reassigned to the soon-to-be independent ice cream company.

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The new business, to be named The Magnum Ice Cream Company, will officially launch on 1 July under the Unilever umbrella ahead of its full demerger by year-end. It will be headquartered and primarily listed in Amsterdam.

A source close to the talks said further job losses were unlikely. “The ice cream business is in a strong position and we don’t expect major cuts from this point,” the source added.

It is understood Ben & Jerry’s, one of Unilever’s biggest ice cream brands, was not directly involved in the negotiations with the works council and that its independent board was neither consulted nor part of the deal-making process.

The relationship between Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s board has grown tense in recent years. The two sides remain locked in a legal battle launched in November, over allegations that the parent company has attempted to limit the brand’s ability to speak out on political and social issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict. Ben & Jerry’s says this goes against its mission-driven ethos.

The ice cream brand has accused Unilever of numerous of offences, including cutting funding to its non-profit foundation, ousting its chief executive David Stever, and violating a merger agreement by trying to silence its “social mission”.

Earlier this month, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen was arrested in Washington DC, after staging a protest during a US Senate hearing to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Unilever has been contacted for comment.