Voluntary Redundancy Offered - Now It is an Exit Package?! Advise Please

[mummytippy]

In short I have been off work since September suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. I opened communication with my employer regarding occupational health provision and they told me they did not have any, but would welcome my GPs recommendation. My Dr is recommending that I work from home. My employer has been telling me this isn't possible. I do accounts admin and have been told by the company's IT consultants it is possible via remote working on a laptop. I submitted a reasonable adjustment request and been turned down. The reason - logistics of transporting paperwork by other staff members- too costly, too time consuming but it can be scanned and emailed... or posted. Most of the company's suppliers and customers email their documents. Also, contamination? I will contaminate paperwork in my home? I've not heard of Covid 19 being transferable on paper?

Just before Christmas I was asked if I wanted to consider voluntary redundancy (also told strictly confidential) and was made a financial offer. I made it clear I didn't want to take such a redundancy. I want to work, but wfh. I was then told I would be informed of any decisions made. I heard nothing and after Christmas I contacted my employer to ask the latest on the redundancies, which process are they following and who does it affect. They replied they were exploring whether I would be interested in an 'exit package' in case I might not be going back to work. I feel completely mislead and spent the entire Christmas period (while they were closed) worrying about their decision and this certainly hasn't help with my panic attacks and anxiety. Any advise on this matter would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

Just go OP, I haven't RTFT but if someone in my team at your level was refusing to come to the office they'd also be out the door. Have you any idea how unreasonable you are being? An accounts administrator will not be hard to replace at the moment, there are thousands of people unemployed at the moment who would be happy to drive 45 minutes to an office just to be working.

Wfh isn't an option. Your employer could not be more clear about that. No point keeping going with it - they have already mentioned the prohibitive cost, so that's a non starter. You are just flowing a dead horse with that one.

So now you have to decide whether you go back into the office or take the exit package.

Your employer has gone almost a year without you and in these challenging times you are now being seen as a difficult employee. I would think they don't want you back and I would be worried, in your position, as to what that would mean if I went back. As you have said you haven't kept in touch with any colleagues so you don't know the reality of working there at the moment. How busy it is, or how your colleagues feel about picking up your work, are they really busy etc.

Jesus H Christ you're still trying to pick holes out of the WFH refusal??

It. Won't. Fly.

I look forward to the next thread: "Woe is me, I've been sacked because of my disability, who can I complain to??" and the eventual drip feed of the real story.

Are you still in any form of talking therapy? Because what you’re expressing here is a total inflexibility in your thinking and it looks like you need to talk that through with someone. You have been out of the office nearly a year. The company aren’t going to go out of their way to let you WFH, because they’re managing without you. It’s a legitimate redundancy because they don’t need you.

You need to talk this through with someone you trust because you are fixated on a solution which isn’t available and ignoring the two only possibly outcomes.

Do you want to work from home for childcare? Not saying you don't have the other problems but is childcare a driver.....

You’ve had some excellent advice on this thread, which I’ve been following with interest. Genuinely excellent, from posters who know their stuff and actually have saved you a fortune in advice from an independent employment law solicitor.

Take the money.

It doesn’t matter what Mumsnet thinks about contamination of paperwork sent by post. What are you going to do? Show your management team the opinion of Maureen from Derby?

It doesn’t matter what “IT” said “in earshot of management in March” about it being possible for some employees to work from home. Since you have already told us that HR in the company is one person doubling up as office manager, I suspect that “IT” is one person too, not a fully staffed team of systems experts with high tech servers at their disposal. What he or she said in March, and in whose earshot, is irrelevant. You must see that?

Take the money. Spare yourself the dismissal process, which is coming. Possibly sooner than you think.

Yup. First question any of my team will ask a manager who is discussing a difficult staff member is “are these issues written down”?

It’s coming OP. If the exit package is still available, take it.

I don't understand why you're so determined to hang on to this job OP, when there are many other companies and roles that can accommodate working from home. Your current company clearly is not prepared to, and can also evidently manage without you as you've been off work for almost a year.

I suspect you may find that working from home doesn't solve all the problems you expect it to, but if you're fixated on that being the only solution then you need to find a suitable job that will accommodate that.

(Also, it's irrelevant really, but the expense of posting documents back and forth can't be considered of no consequence to the company. I assume you wouldn't expect to take on the cost of postage yourself)

If I've understood it correctly from previous threads, you are contracted to work 21 hours over 3 days. Have you considered whether you would be able to work the 21 hours across 4 or 5 days in the office instead? The shorter days may be better for your mental health.

Looking at the bigger picture, the costs to your employer of allowing you to work from home will almost certainly outweigh the benefits, especially as a part-time worker. This doesn't mean by the way that they'd be discriminating against you, just that the cost-benefit ratio would work in their favour as the additional costs won't reduce with your part-time hours.

• Laptop/desktop PC with encryption software, and probably VPN too
• secure storage cabinet or similar if you'll have paperwork at home
• secure disposal facilities for the paperwork
• costs involved in getting paperwork to you, and back to the office if required. This could be time used by another member of staff to scan or deliver the work to you, or perhaps the costs of a courier service. It's unlikely the employer would just put a large envelope in the post to you if the paperwork relates to customers. What would happen if it went astray?Consider the GDPR implications of customer data leaving the office unnecessarily.
• potential costs of other equipment you need to work safely from home as a designated homeworker. For example a suitable chair, desk etc. It's one thing 'making the best of things' sitting working at your dining table in the middle of a pandemic but your employer would have additional responsibilities if you were a designated homeworker.
• home visit(s) from your manager and/or IT department for risk assessments, setting up equipment etc.

That's just the logistics of actually getting you set up to work from home. That's a lot to lay out before they've even considered whether you can do the job effectively from home.

You've said a couple of times that WFH would allow you to work your contracted hours, which you're not well enough to do in the office but haven't responded to other posts asking why this is the case. How do you anticipate that your management of your panic attacks in the office would differ from at home? I believe you've said that you were on furlough, so away from the office, when the panic attacks began, and haven't returned to the office since. It doesn't seem therefore that the attacks are related to the office itself.

What is the back story to the furlough? You've said you were put on furlough 'without being notified'. Do you mean that in lockdown 1 you were sent home, unable to work, but expected to be paid in full for doing nothing when your employer was entitled to furlough you? You appear to have a very self-centred view of the world.

Ultimately though it does seem like you want your employer to make all the concessions while you make none and just dig your heels in. As a long term strategy that's simply not going to work. Have you thought about what you'll do when your SSP entitlement runs out, assuming you haven't been dismissed before then?

They want to pay you to go away. An anxious mind should be paying a lot of attention to this.

If I've understood it correctly from previous threads, you are contracted to work 21 hours over 3 days. Have you considered whether you would be able to work the 21 hours across 4 or 5 days in the office instead? The shorter days may be better for your mental health.

A 1-1.5 hour commute per day, for 4-5 hours of work doesn’t sound feasible to me in terms of time or cost. And that doesn’t resolve the issue of the teen that can’t be left.

Agree with everything else you’ve said though.

Op, there is a serious disconnect between your understanding of what is happening and what is actually happening.

You. Are. Going. To. Lose. Your. Job.

The writing is on the wall - CoRhona is right. The jobs market is tough right now OP. Think carefully. What you've been doing so far hasn't worked.

@Viviennemary

It seems obvious your for doesn't want you to work from home. Maybe they think it will set a precedent for other staff who eill then want to. I font think they are legally obliged to allow wfh. If you don't want to leave could you ask for a compromise three days at home and two days in the office. If you want to leave are you not better off taking the package.

I think that is the issue in that other staff will want to too and I believe the boss only feels in control if he can see you.

I don't want to leave, I just want to follow my GPs recommendation so I can put my health first.

@mummytippy have you read the comments on the thread? Your employer is not obligated to make the changes so you can work from home. It's not an option.
Perhaps if you were to offer a compromise as in you go in once a week to scan your own documents they might have considered it, but you didn't so there we go.
It's too late now, your company does not want you to work there any more. Focus on getting the best payout you can and a decent reference, anything else is now a waste of time.

But what your GP recommends is irrelevant. It’s irrelevant if even your GP /hospital consultant/ cancer specialist/ dog’s mother gives you a fit note. You need to be able to do the job if you want to keep getting paid. If you have exhausted your company’s sickness absence provision and if you want to put your health first, and you cannot work from home, you need to give up your job. But I might suggest that not having a job, unless you have substantial funds, might cause more health problems in regards to anxiety. Your company is not your mum, there to look after you and keep you. You have to fulfil your side of the contract too.

@FudgeSundae

OP, I still don’t think you are getting what voluntary redundancy/an exit package means: they want to pay you to go away. They are fed up of discussing this, they think you will make trouble if they dismiss you according to your contract, and they want you gone quickly and they’re willing to pay. This means: a) they definitely want you gone; b) they’re willing to pay for a quick resolution. Realistically you no longer have a job - they don’t want you any more. Negotiate as much money as you can and get out of there, because the next step will be dismissing you which will be less pay and look bad on your references.

I'm not 'getting it' as 3 days before I was offered VR I was asked to discuss my return to work? I asked what had changed in that 3 days leading up to the VR question and they did not answer that. They also said that the VR was being offered due to a downturn in work and then left me wondering over Xmas and NY while they were closed about the security of my job and the state of their business. They said they'd inform me of any changes but I didn't hear so only when I asked what the latest situation was and procedures etc was I told they were perusing whether I wanted to leave?

Surely for someone who is suffering from panic attacks and anxiety this isn't the right way to treat someone, and would they not be wrong to dismiss me while I have a sicknote?

Surely for someone who is suffering from panic attacks and anxiety this isn't the right way to treat someone, and would they not be wrong to dismiss me while I have a sicknote?

Morally no. Legally, and that's all that really counts here, yes. It's also perfectly legal for someone to be dismissed because their illness makes them incapable of doing the job.

@dreamsarefree

Just go OP, I haven't RTFT but if someone in my team at your level was refusing to come to the office they'd also be out the door. Have you any idea how unreasonable you are being? An accounts administrator will not be hard to replace at the moment, there are thousands of people unemployed at the moment who would be happy to drive 45 minutes to an office just to be working.

I'm suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. My GP is advising wfh best for me. It's not to do with the commute.

Are you not taking on board what people have patiently tried to explain to you on here? It’s pretty unanimous.

Why do you think they’d want to keep you? What do you offer them except problems amd hassle? They are not obliged to bend over backwards for you as you are not important to them. Perhaps your mental health issues and the pressure of lockdown has warped your thinking on this but can you really not see why they no longer want you?

People lose their jobs for being off work sick all the time. I know several. It’s probably the one of most common ways that people lose their jobs. It’s completely legal.

@MrsSchadenfreude

We have largely moved to wfh, but there are some people who can’t wfh - eg payroll, the person who prepares legal documents, the IT people, the people who work from a more secure IT system.

You do sound quite entitled. When we started wfh there were people who kept asking eg the pay roll team to do parts of their job that required them to come in. We made it a condition of wfh that if there was anything that required people to come into the office then they couldn’t delegate it to people who were in doing their own job. To ask was a disciplinary offence.

I think if they wanted you to stay, they would make it possible for you to work from home. But it looks like you’ve outstayed your welcome.

Thanks for your post.

I've worked for my employer 9 years and IT have told my boss that my role can be done from home via remote software.

I just feel my boss is being stubborn as likes to be able to see you, otherwise you're not working in their eyes.

I don't know why I'm coming across as sounding entitled, I'm just frustrated by the goal posts keep changing on reasons why I can't wfh.

@mummytippy it might be what's best for you, but it doesn't suit the needs of your employer. So you need to decide if you can do what your employer needs, even if that isn't the best thing for your health.

An example that might help:
I have chronic migraines. I had some time off work. My boss asked me if there was anything they could do to avoid time off. I said that as I take regular medication and need regular sleep, night shifts weren't ideal. They agreed to take me off nights for a period of time to see if it helped. If I had said "well working from home would be great", they would have said "no can do".

Your employer has told you that your idea isn't feasible. If you want to work at home, you need to find a job that allows home working.

@devildeepbluesea

Jesus H Christ you're still trying to pick holes out of the WFH refusal??

It. Won't. Fly.

I look forward to the next thread: "Woe is me, I've been sacked because of my disability, who can I complain to??" and the eventual drip feed of the real story.

Absolutely no need to be rude and unkind.

I'm looking for constructive advice -- not insults.

I'm suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. My GP is advising wfh best for me.

But so what? What your GP advises is irrelevant. They don’t have any authority over the company you work for. Your company doesn’t need to care what’s best for you- to an extent. It has to care what’s best for itself. There is often some middle ground where compromise and good will can be agreed, but you have past that point.