Voluntary redundancy advice please

bridan90

My husband was told on Thursday that the company he works for is looking for 4 people to take voluntary redundancy and that they want the names by Friday 30th July or they will make it compulsory. They are also talking about flexible working hours for the rest of the workforce. He will be 59 years old this November and has worked non stop since he was 15. He has been in this present job for over 11 years and really enjoys it.

We don't know where to turn. Should he opt for the voluntary redundancy or wait to see what happens? This is a quite a large multi national company but don't know yet what the deal would be.

At his age he feels that it would be almost impossible to find work and he can't stand the thought of not being in full time employment. He was hoping to hold on to the job for at least another 6 years. Also we remortgaged about 7 years ago so we still have quite a bit to pay off.

I am on illness benefit and just recently won my appeal. The last eight months have been extremely stressful for both of us. Just need some advice about options and what might be the best thing to do. If anyone can help we would be most grateful. Thanks.

seamus

It's hard to say without any figures and what package is being offered.

At his age, this could work out a lot better than you think. He's very experienced at whatever it is that he does and so presumably has built up a lot of contacts in his time. He may be ideally suited for a consulting role or at the very least, working part-time from home to trickle in a little income. He's got 7 years to retirement, so he can still look at starting to wind down now - even if that involves working part-time for himself for the next 12 years.

If the company are giving a generous redundancy package, then his length of service will stand to him. For example, 4 weeks per year will give him nearly a year's salary into his hand. If nothing else, this is more than enough time to find a new job. If it was me, I'd be looking at using that time to setting up on my own and giving myself some autonomy.

I would tell him to press the company for details all this week. It's not reasonable to ask for names for voluntary redundancy without disclosing the package. Presumably their intention is to downgrade the package if they have to have compulsory redundancies.

It's worth noting that the company can't force them to go onto "flexible hours", whatever that is. The employer cannot change the conditions of his employment without his agreement. And they cannot fire him for refusing to do so.

Wudyaquit

It's worth bearing in mind that 28,575 of his redundancy would be tax free plus there's a possibility of tax back on work done so far this year. Makes a big difference in your calculations.
As Seamus said, if he was on 40,000, a 4 week per year package would give 44+1 weeks - €34,615 with less than €2000 tax to be paid and the possibility of tax back at year end - he wouldn't take home massively more if he worked for the year... (and he'd presumably be eligible for social welfare)

Difficult decision to make - it's definitely stressful being out of work for extended periods, even if you have a financial cushion like that, particularly when you've worked for so long.

On the other hand, redundancy can be a golden opportunity - he could end up with a job he likes better earning more money but with a nice lump sum as a bonus. If the company do have some loophole where they can reduce his hours, I'd personally be taking the money.

bridan90

Unfortunately his salary is a good bit less than 40,000, if only! He does have a company car though which I'm sure he will have to hand back as it's a lease car. As I said before we also have our mortgage which would be a considerable strain on our finances without his salary, in fact I'd say just impossible.