Would you think badly of me if you were a manager?

[sellingthehouse]

I might be overthinking this but I’m worried that I’ve put my new manager off and I’ve not even started the job yet. Am I being stupid?

The company I work for is currently going through a restructure and my job is at risk for a 2nd time in less than a year. I requested voluntary redundancy a couple of weeks ago which was accepted. I was confident (due to a number of reasons) that I would be made redundant anyway and with less than 2 years service, decided to jump first and get a bit of money from them.

Although they accepted my request in principle, they haven’t sent out formal letters yet (confirmed it will be this week). I have somehow managed to get another job quite quickly and my new manager phoned me this morning to confirm reference details. I asked him to hold off contacting my current employer until I received the letter / signed everything off. It should only be a few days.

He seemed to understand and said that was fine (their onboarding process takes a few weeks anyway) but I’m concerned that I’ve made myself look greedy / like a money grabber if that makes sense?

No you're fine. It makes sense what you're doing. Any manager would understand that

No I would think you were very sensible!

Your new manager seemed to understand and agreed to hold off, so there’s no reason to think you’ve put them off. If anything, you’ve shown that you handle things carefully and professionally, which is a good first impression to make.

YANBU and I would say what you’ve done is correct or the “right” thing to do. Don’t doubt yourself or spend another minute worrying OP

Have you checked the terms of the voluntary redundancy? There are always "rules" and it is very common that one of them is that you haven't already been offered a job. If that is the case and they ever find out, it's possible that they could sue you if you sign to say you haven't been offered a job when you have.

With my vr i wasn't allowed to have a job offer before the end of the contract. I signed to accept vr in April, but wasn't due to finish until the end of July so couldn't hold an offer until then. Read it carefully.

@moosmum21I’m not sure. They confirmed via email a few weeks ago that they would be accepting my request and a formal response would be sent this week. I’m assuming the Ts and Cs will be in that letter.

Far from being bothered, I’d expect it.

When we have leavers, I usually get the reference request through on the last day of their notice - even though I always know they’re going.

OK, they'll also require you to check it with a solicitor, they should pay for that up to a certain amount, mine was £500. You'll need to find the solicitor. But they can check and clarify re the other position. Good luck!

I'd think you were highly organised and you'll have a probation period in your new role anyhow, for them to assess your capabilities.

It’s a good approach. I read somewhere how an employer gave someone a redundancy payment and felt defrauded because the employee had secured a new job fairly quickly. They felt that the employee should have repaid them. I don’t know how that ended but it follows that you’re right to be cautious

That’s so bloody unreasonable of them. Starting a new job with zero continuous service and day one holiday allowance etc isn’t the same as keeping your existing job!

Completely reasonable. I would be glad someone was going happily without any stress or upset of me having to make someone redundant.

It's fine. I'm more impressed that your current employer is paying you redundancy when you've been there less than 2 years.

I would think you were an absolute idiot if you didn't hold off.

It won't make new manage think any less of you, perhaps more even, but I would try to get it wrapped up as soon as possible.