Offered voluntary redundancy - in shock

[ZenNudist]

Just want to talk to others that have been in this situation. Have been offered voluntary redundancy. Doesn't feel very voluntary as if they don't get enough people taking the voluntarily package then they will make statutory redundancies. So I'd best take the better package now.

Been with my employer 12 years, been back from mat leave nearly a year. Am PT. I'm very specialised in what I do so concerned I won't get another job or o e which pays less or won't get 4 day a week contract.

This feels like a really huge thing for me. I hope there are other people out there who have been here and can offer encouragement.

Also wondering about if I can negotiate for more redundancy pay. Anyone done this?
Sorry long post.

Sorry, I haven't been in your position but feel for you & that must be awful if you're not wanting it. All the best & hope things work out (which I'm sure they will).

Hi!
I was made (compulsory) redundant in 2008 - we were told that there are implications on getting jsa or getting your ni stamp - cant remember exactly - if you take voluntary redundancy- best to wait and get made compulsory redundant - Also you should get help in job searches/ assistance with cv etc....
I was on mat leave when I was made redundant - it made me feel crap to be honest, totally shot my confidence - then I was on jsa for 3 months which made me feel even worse! Took a very low paid job just to not be on jsa anymore - I was only there for 5 months as was offered a much better job in a smallish company that needed someone with my experience and offered me more than twice what my low paid job was - and I enjoy it more than my original job that I was made redundant from....

My advice is - don't get voluntary redundancy as it affects your rights, & take up all the assistance that you get offered.
Hope it all works out for you!

What package are they offering? Basic is (I think) something like 1 weeks pay for every year of service up to a maximum which I believe is 12 years?

Hi thanks for message of support. I've spent all eve on the phone to friends and family.
Im not badly paid and reckon its the equivalent of 12 months of my take home cash pay but I'd no longer have any benefits so I'd be seeking new job ASAP.

Fuming because it's awful way to treat someone who lived to work in the first 10 years of their working life. I wasted all of my twenties in that office. Now I'm on the scrap heap at 34 all because I have family commitments nowadays. I was going to try for a second child in January. Feel like that's in doubt now.

Just woke up. Bumping. Important day but don't quite know how I want to approach job hunt ( !!!) or ringing HR/ my boss about keeping my job. I know if I don't take the package that I'm at risk of statutory redundancy. I think that's worse.

Zen, you don't have to decide right now - there will be a window during which you can accept the VR package. You can bide your time and see what other people decide to do and say.

You should be part of an 'at risk' pool of employees, so you won't be the only one.

Don't jump in to doing anything until you've thought it all through. There may be others who want to leave and you may be able to stay in the longer term.

As others have said, don't take the voluntary package as it'll affect any benefits you may wish to claim for. Also, the compulsory package will be 'better' in that you''ll probably get more of a payoff. I'd be advising differently if you were desperate to leave or had a new job to go to. Also, by declining the voluntary redundancy and forcing your employer to look into compulsory redundancies, you'll buy yourself more time to look for another job.

Good luck!

just wanted to add. I took Vol Redundancy and was able to claim JSA immediateley.

Hope this helps

I took vol redundancy, they offered to make it effectively complusory redundancy and do the paperwork so it didn't affect JSA (I decided to take a year as a SAHM in the end and didn't sign on though). I haven't got time to make a long post now, will come back later, but it was the best thing I ever did.

This is important - if you are part time in a company that you have also worked full time for, see if they will factor in your full time years when it comes to calculating your package, ie mine was 8 years x 2 weeks of f/t salary plus 2 years x 2weeks of p/t salary). I don't think they have to but it is worth asking, mine did it and it made a huge difference. Check what it says in your contract.

OK, I worked at my job for 10 years, loved the work, but it was extremely stressful, to the point where I was getting ill. DH's business was doing well and the package was good so it was a bit of a no brainer for me to go. However I had to come to terms with the fact that I would probably never find part time / close enough to home work in my chosen field again. It was a year until my youngest DC was due to start school, so I decided to take a year off to de-stress and then decide what to do after that.

15 months later I managed to find a part time, fully flexible and local job back in my old field and paying the same (pro-rata) as my old one. I know it doesn't work out this well for everyone, there are plenty of threads on here attesting to that, but I have to say if you are looking for work, Network, Network, Network. Several of my friends have managed to find p/t professional work in their fields via word of mouth and friends, a lot of companies are looking to save a bit of money and maybe employ a part-timer instead of a full timer.

Good luck, even when it is as clear cut as it was for me it is traumatic. Oh and if you do go, either vol or compulsory, check that you are getting everything you can from your company. It turned out mine would pay tuition fees for people going to college to retrain, but they didn't volunteer this info, someone found it tucked away in an HR policy. Take anything they offer in the way of counselling, even if you don't think you need it, I nearly didn't bother as I was planning to SAHM for a bit, but I went to a careers workshop and it was really useful and provided a focus and feeling of togetherness for all of us that were going.

Well I made my first call and was asked in to interview tomorrow. Well it's more of a chat. I'm very specialist so I know exactly where I'd go. Maybe my fear that I could exhaust specialist routes quickly is unfounded.

Good advice about taking up counselling. I'm also going to ring HR and ask how package is calculated.

Are you a member of a Union? If so, they should be able to give you some advice.

If you apply for voluntary redundancy the package is usually much more attractive that statutory redundancy which is why they do it!

I took the voluntary package - which was a lot better than the statutory. Employers do this so that they let go the employees who choose to go rather than having to do the choosing - sometimes they will say 'no' to someone applying for voluntary - which generally means they want to keep you. More legal information here

Whichever you take it should not affect JSA - although if you get a large package then I assume you might go over some threshold for savings? but you should take legal advice - my employer paid for all our legal advice and we had to sign a declaration saying we knew what we were doing and had taken legal advice etc.

good luck!