Further to the VCs email about the Voluntary Severance Scheme – a small number of members have asked about how the VS scheme compares to the University’s compulsory redundancy arrangements.
Statutory redundancy and payments are based on length of service being one week of pay per year and 1.5 weeks of pay per year of service over the age of 40. The maximum allowed payment for statutory redundancy is a little over £16,000. Link to website to calculate actual statutory entitlement is here: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay
The University agreed with the Campus Trade Unions a process whereby they will pay an enhanced redundancy, which is double statutory redundancy – which normally includes engaging with the redeployment process. In a redundancy situation we would therefore expect staff to receive double their statutory entitlement.
The current Voluntary Severance Scheme being offered is for eligible staff to choose to voluntarily leave their contract of employment early, for which the employer will compensate by a minimum of 5 months’ pay, up to a maximum of 10 months’ pay. One month per year of service (any notice payment is included in that offer).
You can find out more about the scheme including how to apply here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/vss
And you can calculate how much you would be paid: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/vss/readyreckoner
No Trade Union official can ever say whether one person’s situation makes it best to choose this option or not to. It is an individual choice. All we can do is show the means of comparing financial outcomes of actual redundancy versus voluntary severance. Each member should use the calculators from gov.uk and from the University, to understand their individual circumstances – as rate of pay and length of service impact on the individual’s figures.
Of course the voluntary scheme is aimed at saving money and the termination date speaks to that.
There may well be concerns or worries about whether compulsory redundancies will happen going forward. We have no information about that at this time.
Please contact the branch office if you have any concerns or queries that are not answered on the University website – unison@sheffield.ac.uk
University of Sheffield UNISON Branch Committee