Furlough/Voluntary Severance/Redundancy

[3isthemagicestnumber]

Hello - I’m hoping someone can provide some advice with regard to the situation a friend is facing, she’s finding it very stressful and is getting mixed messages from management at present.

She has been Furloughed since June - she received a call on Friday from her line manager to say that her department was transferring to another senior manager and that she should take the voluntary severance scheme (which expires this Friday). She tried to clarify this with senior management and was told that yes there was an intention to transfer the department, but that the call should have just been to remind her that the voluntary scheme was still open, but that there will be a restructure of her department as part of the transfer.

She is a mid-level manager in this area and it is not expected to re-open until January at present.

Should she ask for further details of the proposed restructure? If she doesn’t take VS then surely they will have to follow some form of redundancy program - she’s been there 7 years. She hasn’t formally been told that she’s at risk of redundancy but the vague references to ‘considering the VS’ intimate this might be the case.

Any advice anyone can offer would be very gratefully received.

Is the VR package enhanced beyond what the company gives as the compulsory redundancy package?

Hi Zogtastic - Yes the VS is an enhanced package, sorry this wasn’t clear.

They could never really come out and say if she doesn’t take VR, she will at a later stage be made CR as theoretically if enough people in the right roles apply for VR then CR May become unnecessary. So, personally, I think asking them for further clarification of the restructure probably won’t provide anymore useful information although it possibly could. For me, it comes down to a personal weighing up of the varied components: how enhanced are the VR terms, how likely does future CR feel, how much does she like her job, how much would moving departments impact the role, how easy would it be to get another job.
So - if she has a feeling given the company’s current economic situation and the general vibe she’s getting, that is likely her role will be redundant relatively soon in the future and the VR terms are notably more favourable, and she feels it will be ok to get another job or temp in something else to keep money coming in, then taking VR looks a possible good option. However if she feels it would be hard to get another job or it’s easier to get one whilst still employed, and she can cope with the impact of the uncertainty and the possibility of CR (taking VR can feel very different emotionally from being made CR) then it might be worth hanging on and seeing how the restructure plays out. Also look at any protection plans and their t&cs. For example, if you have mortgage protection that pays in the case of unemployment, it will usually pay out for CR but may not pay out if you take VR.

Thank you so much Zogtastic, this is an incredibly helpful response which I will share with my friend. Thanks for taking the time to share.