Voluntary redundancy

[Whoops12]

Looking for some advice/experience.

I'm in an organisation that is undergoing a restructure. There are 5 teams that are moving to 4 teams with a different mix.

My role is being moved and the scope of the role will change. Work is currently arguing that its not a significant change (line manager rather than duties) but looking at the JD I was recruited under, this isn't the case.

There are 5 of us in the role (1 in each team) and we'll now be in one team aligned to one of the 4 new teams - no word on what would happen for the 5th individual.

I'm in a position where redundancy wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Can just one person made redundant? Would this situation meet the requirements? How would I go about raising this as a possibility?

Any thoughts/experience very welcome!!

They would have to go to consultation and then you could put your hand up.

They need to drive this really and put you in a pool for redundancy.

They might offer VR but it's a risk. Usually the people you don't want to leave are the ones who volunteer.

Thanks both - so they'd have to officially trigger it? It's not something we could agree 'behind the scenes' so to speak?

Sorry, I've never come across this situation before and I'm not too sure where to take it!

They could do it by natural wastage but more likely all will be considered for the remaining roles. The unsuccessful candidate may be offered a close alternative if there is sufficient overlap in a new role or made redundant.

If they say your job isn't that different, they might be able to argue that you are not being moved into a different job.

What should happen is they put you at risk of redundancy. This is when they tell you your job is going to be made redundant. There is then a consultation period. You should have it explained to you how they will decide who gets the jobs and whether you can apply for voluntary redundancy at this point. You may be redeployed into another job elsewhere in the company if you don't get redeployed into one if the new jobs.

I was put at risk and redeployed twice. I asked for voluntary redundancy twice and was declined. Unfortunately I have been here long enough to cost them a lot of money to let me go and they can get at least another 25 years out of me. Redundancy was typically given to people who hadn't been here long (less than 2 years service) who were cheaper to lay off or people who were due to retire in two years anyway.

In my experience VR is not widely offered and when it is it usually comes with conditions, such as only open to those on the lower end of the performance rating scale.

The most likely process in this situation (where everyone has the same role but the number of roles will be reduced) is all 5 of the affected people will be notified that their roles are placed at risk. There will then be either an interview process or more likely a desktop assessment to rank each of the affected people with the person scoring the lowest being made redundant, or finding an alternative role if available.

You could ask for a "without prejudice" conversation with HR / your manager where you indicate you would not be adverse to being made redundant and discussing a potential exit settlement. The without prejudice part indicates it's not binding upon either party until docs are signed, and it's an exploratory conversation only with them indicating what package you may get. The issue with this is that this process is triggered by you, not your employer so you don't have the same legal benefits as redundancy and the offer in the settlement is typically less than you would get otherwise.

ACAS can be very helpful in this type of situation so might be worth a call to them.

Thanks everyone. Looks like it still has to be pretty formal - I was hoping because I was in agreement we could get it done and dusted pretty quickly and painlessly but guess I'll have to wait and see what they decide.

Out of interest, who would decide whether it is a change of role if they say it isn't but I disagree? ACAS?

HR will compare the job descriptions etc and determine whether it is a close enough match to be a reasonable alternative. It may not need to be at same location if the travel time is reasonable and they may offer short term funding if further away.

Thanks all