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Blimey -.I've been made redundant!

Sorry to see your news ElizabethofYork .
My sympathy, having been through the process a few times [it sucks !].
There's some good advice up thread about union support and information about the whole process.

If you want to take up early retirement - I hope you can get the figures to work for you.
Perhaps look up what ACAS and others say about the statutory requirements, for both redundancy and retirement, Also, how to tell if the offered enhancements are a good deal.
{that's what my OH did when the school management cocked up, we did quite well out of it ...}

Best of Luck with it !
 
Sorry to hear this ElizabethofYork sounds like a terrible blow, especially considering your super long service. Should you want to find alternative employment, you will have lots of transferrable skills. But if the redundancy settlement allows, take some time to figure out what you want to do next, whether you'd like to use your skills and experience in a similar job in the same sector, or use your transferrable skills in a similar job in a different sector, or retrain to do something else, or maybe retire, although lots of people nowadays are opting for semi-retirement, finding part-time work, so that's also an option.

What were the most enjoyable aspects of your job? Which bits did you dislike the most?* What was your childhood ambition, ie When I grow up I want to be a...? What do you like doing with your spare time? Are there any hobbies you've wanted to take up but haven't had the time? Lots of people retrain and start second or third careers in their forties, fifties, even sixties. Have you ever hankered after becoming a novelist, or maybe fancied setting up a dog-walking or bakery business? I know people who've retrained or simply embarked on new careers to be humanist celebrants for weddings and funerals, personal trainers, novelists, travel agents, counsellors/psychotherapists, journalists, teachers of English as an additional language, etc.

* E.g. I find minute-taking a nightmare. I was in a job a few years ago where the previous incumbent had created 'light touch' minutes with minimal detail; months later when I was minuting meetings, one meeting degenerated into a shouting match as the parties disputed what each other had agreed to in a meeting months ago, and they all had different recollections. But then when I sought to avoid a reoccurrence by writing up more detailed minutes as to who had agreed what, I was told off for 'writing War and Peace' and not being concise enough. Can't win. If I see a job ad/job description with minute-taking in it, I shudder, and now I'd rather avoid the hassle and the grief.
 
philosophical said:
I think technically it is the job that is supposed to be redundant, not the person.
Click to expand...

Sorry to see this ElizabethofYork

I don't know the details of your situation, but Philosophical is correct and raises an important point. It is the post and not the person being made redundant.

I was involved in a big redundancy round in 2022 and we were able to use our redundancy avoidance agreement to push management to develop a post matching process where - for example - those in the redundancy pool were able to indicate a desire to EITHER take a package or express a desire to be moved into a grade equivalent post elsewhere (or even a higher grade post where a reasonable amount of training could enable them to do the job).

This meant that some workers who wanted to retire/leave but were not in the initial pool could put their hand up for voluntary redundancy and free up that post for those in the pool who wanted to stay.

The process worked well and the employer ended up with an oversupply of willing volunteers. This led to a row as those volunteering were more expensive to let go but that's another story.

I do not know the HE sector at all, but Universities are surely big enough employers to operate something similar? Especially for admin grade posts which will be more general than say planned cuts to a specific department?

As others have said it is definitely worth raising the matter with the local UCU stewards. Do not sit back - ask questions, assert your position.

Finally, the employer should be pressed to agree reasonable requests for training and time off to allow you to look for another job. Part time admin plus an enhanced redundancy package might work for you?

Whatever happens I know what a shit experience this is and I am sorry to see that you are going through it. Happy to help and advise further if I can.
 
cesare said:
How are they supporting you ElizabethofYork ? After nearly three decades you deserve some care and attention through this. How are you feeling 10ish days on?
Click to expand...
Thankyou for asking. I'm working until Christmas, and then .... out.

I'm getting a decent enhanced redundancy package, and they're being as decent as they can be. I'm still feeling quite numb and in denial about it! But I'm thankful that i'm able to spend some time reassessing and considering what to do next. I'm not in an urgent hurry to get another job, thank fuck.

The whole university sector is going through a pretty traumatic time just now.
 
So sorry to read this. Are they doing a scheme where you can use your payment to enhance your pension. Civil Service and ( I think local government) schemes allow this. Does academia?
 
Firstly, sorry to hear about your redundancy

Before I took early retirement (60) I had a chat with a mate who went at 57. I asked him if he had any regrets. The only one was not going earlier.

One thing he said that really stuck with me was "it's amazing how cheaply you can live when you've got not working as an option"

And he was damned right

So if retirement is attainable, even if it seems unlikely, don't discount it

Oh! And double, double check your redundancy amount, don't rely on the figures from your company. If you don't fully understand get them to explain in words of one syllable of necessary
 
Really feel for you Elizabeth. I work in the university sector (non academic) - have only been in it for a couple of years though - and one of the attractions was the (relative) stability compared to the voluntary sector - ok, I'm project funded, so there's an end date, but it's already been rolled forward once and many of my colleagues have been working for the university for many years bouncing from initiative to initiative. I really want to stick in academia till retirement - not least because of the pension - and the current funding crisis is a bit of a gnawing worry. Though so far haven't really picked up anything at my university, which is likely one of the more stable ones financially, though we've recently had a new VC and who knows if they're the slash and burn restructuring type...
 
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