Could this be a redundancy situation?

[Newtry]

Wasn't 100% where to put this but any advice/insight would be great! TIA

5 people doing the same job across 5 teams. 5 people now pulled together into 1 team to drive efficiencies.

Comments that the new efficiencies should release capacity across the 5 people.

Workload from before reducing, with new activities being added but there's still a feeling that there are too many in the team for the new workload.

Could redundancy be considered in this scenario? If so, how would the process work with only 5 people? If 1 person offered to take redundancy, could they just go and the other 4 remain as is or would everyone have to be considered/Apply for their jobs again?

It does sound like a potential redundancy situation. A restructure has led to a reduction in posts.

The first step is to see if there is a similar job elsewhere in the organisation. If there is, one of the team may be moved into that role so no redundancy. There should be a fair and transparent processing the person to transfer.

If there is no other role then a fair process must be used to identify the person to be made redundant. They may at this stage offer voluntary redundancy. However, if more than one person volunteers then they would need a selection process.

The five might be invited to apply for remaining roles, with those surplus possibly being offered an alternative role if available or made redundant. They may offer vr.

Read the company redundancy policy (if there is one). A lot of public sector orgs have an agreement with unions that voluntary redundancy is offered before compulsory which is handy for those that want to leave or retire.

Check the redundancy pay policy at your company. Statutory minimum isn't generous.

If anyone has been employed there for less than 2 years then their employment could be terminated with very little process / cost for employer..

Thanks all. It is public sector, all been there Longer than 2 years.

I wouldn't mind VR but not sure it's on the cards. They're talking about potentially putting one/two of us into a different team to do different work e.g. moving from IT work now to Finance.

I don't want to move but I equally don't want to have to go up against my colleagues for my current job either ...

@Newtry
They cannot force you to do another job. They can offer it to anyone who might be redundant. It’s also normal in restructuring to go through applying for jobs. Usually against your co workers. So you do need to see what the outcome is. How BEng Jim’s, what are they and would you like a different challenge? Would others prefer to retire, move on or take redundancy?

The organisation might want to change the job descriptions to incorporate a broader range of activities. This might avoid any redundancy. It’s down to negotiation and I think you need to see what the proposals are.

Thanks @TizerorFizz I really appreciate the insight.

It's a really horrible environment currently. On the changing job descriptions, does that have to be done by agreement or can the employer unilaterally change that?

I'd take redundancy if it was offered. Is there a way I can prod them into offering redundancy? Can I go and say based on these changes, comments and workload, I think there's too much work and I would offer to take redundancy? Or is that inappropriate?

The managers will have their own opinions on who should stay on the team and who should be moved so even if you did they may not offer voluntary redundancy as they might want a selection process

How specific is your job / tasks in your contract? For example some Public sector contracts are grade based setting out generic responsibilities to support a move from pretty much any task, and have a you may be moved to xyz in line with business needs etc clause which may shut down the access to VR.

This is the usual process in a well run business where all the jobs "at risk" are the same or broadly similar.

My job description is quite specific. Having looked at it, there's probably only 30ish% of the activity now available.

They cannot force you to do another job. They can offer it to anyone who might be redundant.
It is certainly true that the employer cannot force someone to do another job. But an employee is equally not capable of forcing an employer to pay redundancy pay. The OP suggests this is a public sector role. In the public sector there are detailed and complex policies around redundancy, and just because someone doesn't want another job does not mean they are entitled to refuse it and still get redundancy pay. The cheapest option for the employer is to let you refuse a job that is a suitable alternative. That's called resignation, not redundancy.

Hopefully the OP is in a union, because that is where these issues are best negotiated.

I am in a union and trust me, I'm not trying to profit here.

I've only ever been top ranked at performance reviews, worked all the hours and been flexible on duty and even location.

What I don't want to do is be moved to a specialist team where I have no experience. I have specific qualifications in my current area and all my experience is here. There also aren't a lot of people at my grade across the organisation so not sure how many openings there are likely to be if I'm selected to be moved.

@Newtry patience is what you need now. Trying to force the issue now could be counter productive.

As a pp said in the public sector there are policies and processes. Make sure you are aware of them, keep in contact with your TU, engage with the process. If they don’t follow the processes then raise it via your TU.

Make sure you have an up to date job description.

Just reading your your updates. It sounds like you are in a good position based on your contract and performance. I hope everything goes your way, worrying times.

The thing is, resolutely sticking to what you know can mean being seen as the least valuable team member - after all, if you're a manager, do you risk creating a single point of failure by having just one person able to do something (but nothing else) and another able to do another (but nothing else), or do you actively prevent that by choosing 2 people who are both able to adapt, learn and apply their skills to multiple situations?

It can also make you more employable outside to be able to say 'I originally specialised in flangewobbler construction, but following a restructure, I took the opportunity to develop my skills in mangleflibbet fabrication processes, which means I am able to manage the numptywarblerspurge flow from initial pontification to final deployment whilst ensuring that Wobblingflangenumpties now flibbet their spurges at an improved efficiency rate of 186.2847987948% compared to before I joined the department.' as well.

Unless you're somebody who stands to make bazillions from a redundancy and are already fighting off headhunters with a baseball bat so you could easily slip into another role in your current specialism after one month and one day, actually keeping a job and developing new skills in a different area could be a far better option for you.

@Newtry. In local government I’ve seen plenty of people offered redundancy in the situation you describe. They are not suited to another job and the organisation needs less staff and savings. So redundancy suits everyone. Of course it’s negotiation but often organisations will not want to take on people in smother department and retrain them. It depends if they are saving money. There may not be any vacancies elsewhere either. Therefore negotiation might well be worth it. Remember it’s the job that’s redundant. If there’s no Jon, it’s redundancy. Look at ACAS guidance on redundancy.

Thanks all.

I appreciate the bit about being flexible and I actually love to learn new things (I've done many, many course outside of work time at my own expense). The thing here is that this isn't a choice and would be going into an area I have no interest or background in at a level where knowledge is expected. Plus, personally if VR was an option, I would rather take that at this stage than remain working for this organisation.

I know sitting tight is smart and that's my plan. Its a really horrible environment to be in and I can't wait for it to be over one way or another. I'm now worried about my own capabilities and doubting myself, managament are constantly talking about having too much resource in the team (including in front of junior members of staff). I didn't want to move in the first place so this feels like a kick in the teeth now.

I slept for 13 hours last night. Its taking so much energy.