Councils have consistently managed restructure processes poorly. One possible consequence is workers being forcibly made redundant, when they had planned to work for several more years. Enter the importance of a voluntary redundancy.
‘Restructure’ ‘Realignment’, ‘Reshaping’ ‘Organisational Change’ – these are all words that send a shiver down the spine of a worker, for obvious reasons. Redundancy is not only the loss of a worker’s livelihood; it’s also the loss of their career, social relationships and can put their personal and home life at risk too.
A voluntary redundancy is for workers who have identified themselves as being happy to accept redundancy. These workers might be towards the end of their career or they might just be looking to move on. They are an important part of workplace restructure.
During the early stages of a workplace restructure, there is a consultation period. During the consultation period, if workers who do not want to stay are identified alongside the ones who do, employers can use that information to more easily spot roles that could be offered to workers who do want to stay in the organisation but whose current roles are going to be forcibly made redundant.
Nobody wants a restructure that will cut jobs or sell off services, least of all your union. No worker who wants to stay with their employer should be forced out the door either.
When a restructure does happen, it is our job as your union to mitigate job losses for our members. A voluntary redundancy process helps reduce job losses because it can reduce forceable redundancies and provide more redeployment options for those displaced workers wanting to stay with the organisation.
Supporting voluntary redundancies gives your union a way to reduce forced redundancies which means saving more jobs.
Voluntary redundancy is always voluntary. If your employer offers it as part of a restructure, you do not need to take them up on the offer.
