Redundancy

i am a lady

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has ever been made redundant and what sort of package they got? I am going to be made redundant in a few months and have been told I will receive an "enhanced package" - what would that be - 4 weeks pay per year of service, 6 weeks pay?? I also getting a retention bonus if I stay until the end but have no clue what that will amount to...I need to negotiate obviously, but if anyone has any pointers I would be very grateful.

Ta

Wishbone Ash

This may be of help:-

http://www.entemp.ie/employment/redundancy/contact.htm

General Queries
General information on the Redundancy Payments Scheme is available from the Employment Rights Information Unit or the Redundancy Payments Section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment at Davitt House, 65A Adelaide Road, Dublin 2. The offices are open from 9.15am - 5.30pm The telephone extensions and e-mail addresses regarding general queries are:

Telephone: 01 631 3131
LoCall: 1890 201 615
Email: erinfo@entemp.ie

Specific Queries
For specific information about a particular redundancy case, based on the location of the firm, the contact details are as follows:

Name Ext Number Email address
Miranda Naughton
(Dublin Districts 9,13,15,16,18) (Limerick) (Sligo) (Clare) (Westmeath) (Waterford) (Wexford) 01 631 3047 miranda_naughton@entemp.ie
Catherine McVerry
(Cork) (Kilkenny) (Longford) (Tipperary) (Louth) 01 631 3041 catheric_mcverry@entemp.ie
Richard Foley
(Dublin Districts 8,10,14,20) (Co. Dublin) (Mayo) (Kerry) (Roscommon) 01 631 3049 richard_foley@entemp.ie
Elaine McWeeney
(Dublin Districts 2,11,24) (Carlow) (Laois) (Offaly) 01 631 3036 elaine_mcweeney@entemp.ie
Catherine O'Hare
(Dublin Districts 3,5,6,6W,7,17) (Meath) (Monaghan) (Leitrim) 01 631 3048 catherine_ohare@entemp.ie
Joan Gavin(Dublin District 12) (Kildare) (Galway) (Cavan) 01 631 3090 joan_gavin@entemp.ie
Margaret McCormack
(Dublin Districts 1,4,22)(Donegal) (Wicklow) 01 631 3050 margaret_mccormack@entemp.ie

Redundancy Payments Section
Name Ext Number E-mail address
Mary Fogarty 01 631 3051 mary_fogarty@entemp.ie
Gary Hannon 01 631 3033 gary_hannon@entemp.ie

Audioslaven

Hi,

I think 6 weeks pay per year of service would be good, 4 would probably be about average. I don't know what kind of salary you are on or how many years of service you have done but if you were waiting till the end (say about a year) I would look for at least 10k in a bonus(They will not give it to you as a salary increase as it would increase redundany payment, so it would be paid as a bonus)

Sleipnir

I was made redundant about 2.5 years ago and I have to say they were quite generous. They gave me the statutory (I had 3 years there) plus the same again on top. Plus I was sent home at the end of November but they paid me until my redundancy was official in February.

Had six months off work doing up the house and spending time with my son. We even had a "snow-day" while the girlfriend went off to work!!! That was good. Don't forget that your redundancy is tax-free.

I wish I could be made redundant every 5 years or so!

i am a lady

Thanks for the advice guys...yeah, I thought 6 weeks per year would constitute a good package, but I need to get the thinking cap on for the retention bonus. I heard a very low number mentioned and I need to make them understand that I could easily be earning at least 10k more in another job but had chosen to stay here because I really like my job - which they are now getting rid of! Plus there was a salary freeze for the last couple of years so I feel they owe me on that front too. I think I will just aim high and see if they meet me halfway. Don't ask, don't get.

mikemac

Out of interest, why would a company decide to pay out such generous terms?
Surely if a company decided to cut payroll costs and wanted to make people redundant, they would just pay the statutory minimum.
Sorry, if its a stupid question, I just can't get my head around it.

Sleepy

PR - it can damage a parent company if they're folding a plant and treat the workers badly.

Sleipnir

Or just plain decency. There was only 6 people in the place I worked. Hardly front page news that they let two people go.

Carb

I was lucky enough that in my last place I received two months pay and one months loyalty bonus for staying to the end. I'd only been there 12 months. It was like a shared service operation, but the european companies were been sold off, so the shared services was closing. We were in a good bargaining position, as there were only accountants left, and the sale of the company, reporting requirements, audits etc. could only be sorted out by us. If we had left immeidately, the whole process would have collapsed.

ixoy

Sleipnir wrote:

Don't forget that your redundancy is tax-free.

Up to a point. There's a base amount that's tax free - add on to that the number of years you've been working multiplied by some factor. This is the tax free lump - anything in excess can be taxed.

Additionally, if you're made redundant a second time within a set period (five or ten years - I forget), the second amount can be taxed. Not all redundancies are tax free...

I had to check all this out when I was made redundant last year. Oh and it was six weeks per year of working and there was over a hundred people going..

bringitdown

Well a slightly different slant .. if you are to be made redundant in the next month or two, waive your right to use your increased excemption.
cf: http://oasis.gov.ie/retirement/taxation_and_older_people/retirement_lump_sum_taxation.html

-> The Basic Exemption plus the Increased Exemption: An additional 10,000 called the 'increased exemption' is also available in the following certain circumstances;

Then book a round the world ticket - including a working holiday somewhere maybe (Oz/NZ etc) claim ALL your income tax back for this year (as you will not have exhausted you TFA ... a nice bonus and sit back and relax.

You have six months before it is January and can work again without getting taxed.

Granted not for everyone but I enjoyed it!!!