Voluntary Redundancy

joseyjo69

Hi, I have been offered voluntary redundancy but have been told by the job centre that I would not be entitled to claim CB JSA for 6 months - can anyone confirm if this is correct as there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on line.

Thank you :A:A

ceridwen

Its my understanding that the Jobcentre treats redundancy exactly the same way - whether its voluntary or enforced.

There ARE always people who don't know their job properly - and that probably means this one particular Jobcentre employee in this case.

<Sits back and waits for someone who knows the exact rules on this to come along>

joseyjo69

I tried 5 different telephone numbers and nobody seemed to know, so I asked to speak to a manager and it was him that said that as I had chosen redundancy, as if it is something someone would choose if there was any other option, I would not be entitled to anything, which worried me...

weanie

My daughter is in a similar position - she phones Job Centre and they say "No" but I phone and they say "Yes". I have a friend who applied and for JSA as soon as he was made voluntarily redundant and he did claim and receive JSA for 6 months as well as ongoing support re finding another job.
My understanding is that there is confusion but if you have sufficient NI contributions, you are able to make a successful claim. The only problem would be if you were given a sum from your employer in lieue of holidays or notice and then you would have to pass this period of paid notice before claiming for JSA.
Anyway - this is the advice I gave my daughter and I agree with Joseyjo69 that with these cuts to services and jobs, there is little option.

LittleVoice

weanie wrote: »

The only problem would be if you were given a sum from your employer in lieue of holidays or notice and then you would have to pass this period of paid notice before claiming for JSA.

Back in the 1980s I believe that was the case but I am not sure that that is the case now. If the payment is IN LIEU OF then there is no notice or holiday, it is in place of those things. If, on the other hand, the person is simply not required to attend work during their notice period then they are still technically employed and cannot claim until their employment is actually terminated.

Also, in the case of voluntary redundancy, the right to notice or payment for untaken but accrued holiday is often forfeited as part of the voluntary nature of the scheme. In that event there is, of course, no notice or holiday pay.

ennui

Can't speak to any official policy as there is a huge amount of conflicting information out there, but my boyfriend was able to claim contributions-based JSA after taking voluntary redundancy last year. Put in the claim and if you get an unfavourable decision, appeal it.

Bonbon

I took voluntary redundancy and still claimed JSA.Everyone's entitled to it for 6 mths based on NI contributions and no questions asked about savings (redundancy money) etc. But then after the 6 mths you will have to go onto income based JSA. If you had a decent redundancy payout and maybe a little in savings, taking you over £16,000 you will not be entitled to anything.

getmore4less

If it is a genuine redundancy I don't see how it can make any difference to tax or benifits,

By law it is a termination by reason of redundancy and ALL govement departments should treat it as such.

AIUI there are teminations that do qualify for the £30k tax benifit but are not redundancy so can be treated differently.


If termination is redundant claim on that basis no need to mention VR.

VR realy just means you did not fight the selection process.

diable

Bonbon wrote: »

I took voluntary redundancy and still claimed JSA.Everyone's entitled to it for 6 mths based on NI contributions and no questions asked about savings (redundancy money) etc. But then after the 6 mths you will have to go onto income based JSA. If you had a decent redundancy payout and maybe a little in savings, taking you over £16,000 you will not be entitled to anything.

Not if its contributions based JSA.

LittleVoice

diable wrote: »

Not if its contributions based JSA.

Contributions JSA is what most people would be entitled to in the first place. The post to which you responded mentioned that in the first sentence. The poster then went on to write about income based JSA where savings are taken into account.

lpt64

We had a presentation from a representative from the Job Centre. They stated that they do not differentiate between voluntary and compulsory as someone would be made reundant regardless of how it was done. I don't recall them even asking when I signed on.