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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...
 
lazythursday said:
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...
Click to expand...

Worth bearing in mind in this situation that if your employer doesn't offer you another job after your current contract ends, you are still entitled to a redundancy payment if you've been there for more than two years.
 
And if you have enough continuity of service (four years max, but could be less if your company's policy is good) a position should be converted to ongoing.

(Though lots of employers play games to ensure 'breaks' in continuity)
 
Dear ElizabethofYork it must have been a shocker for you for which I am sorry.
Take heart. I took redundancy 20+ years ago, and the cash. It was the best thing that happened as I changed from "pen pushing" to a job that is rewarding and satisfying. I quit that three months ago and had moved to a job with far less pay and more enjoyable. Could you perhaps balance pension and some other work? Maybe part time, just to maintain structure not to mention a little income?
Where you head, I wish you well and happiness.
 
redsquirrel said:
And if you have enough continuity of service (four years max, but could be less if your company's policy is good) a position should be converted to ongoing.

(Though lots of employers play games to ensure 'breaks' in continuity)
Click to expand...
My position is already classed as permanent, because of some new uni policy around short term contracts (think anything funded over two years becomes permanent) but in reality it's still very much tied to funding with an end date.
 
hash tag said:
Dear ElizabethofYork it must have been a shocker for you for which I am sorry.
Take heart. I took redundancy 20+ years ago, and the cash. It was the best thing that happened as I changed from "pen pushing" to a job that is rewarding and satisfying. I quit that three months ago and had moved to a job with far less pay and more enjoyable. Could you perhaps balance pension and some other work? Maybe part time, just to maintain structure not to mention a little income?
Where you head, I wish you well and happiness.
Click to expand...

ElizabethofYork

Just another thought -

I'm a bit vague on this, but think there may be some restrictions round getting public sector redundancy and / or pension (if your current scheme and circumstances will allow you to start taking your pension straight away), then going in to another public sector job.

it's not a 'never again' but there may have to be a short gap between one and the other, or something, and if you start taking a pension, there may be a limit to how much you can earn at the same time as taking pension.

there was some fuss some time during the last 10 years about some high level local authority people getting a redundancy package one week and starting another high level job somewhere else the next - i don't know if this ever got as far as new regulations being made, or just a fuss that blew over.

similarly, at a past local authority employer, there was someone who got redundancy and pension from a fairly senior job, he then went back but only at an admin sort of grade, he couldn't have gone for anything higher (whether it was pay grade or salary level i'm not sure) without buggering something up.

you may want to ask if there are any restrictions about future work following redundancy and / or taking your pension.
 
Puddy_Tat said:
ElizabethofYork

Just another thought -

I'm a bit vague on this, but think there may be some restrictions round getting public sector redundancy and / or pension (if your current scheme and circumstances will allow you to start taking your pension straight away), then going in to another public sector job.
Click to expand...
Will HE count as public sector here?
Strictly speaking HEIs are not part of the public sector - although they do follow some of the same rules. It's a bit of a grey area.

But I'm more au fait with USS - where I don't think there would be any issue - than the local government pension scheme, which from what she has said I suspect ElizabethofYork is enrolled on

Anyway worth getting checked out as you suggest.
 
Last edited:
If you’re in LGPS ElizabethofYork you have rights to take pension benefits if over 55, there are also some special arrangements if made redundant which impact pension entitlement that I don’t know enough about to help with. Whatever LGPS fund you pay into should have some info on their website
 
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