voluntary redundancy/severancy and claiming benefits

knithappens

I posted this on the redundancy board but there may be someone with more expertise over here, so i hope you dont mind me posting it here too.

Am really worried at the moment as I am a single parent , 3 kids under 16 , the youngest being 2, mortgage to pay, a few debts etc, i have no family , just me and the kids and this is my worst nightmare come true, which I know a lot of people here will be able to relate to.

seems stupid i know but i keep re reading the letter i was given last week on redundancies, my school is looking to make redundant 10 teaching staff this academic year and a total of 30 in the next 6 months, they simply do not have the budget to employ as many staff, as we are merging schools, throughout the letter is jumps between stating that it is a redundancy process but then refers to it being voluntary severance. Al]
the info i have found refers mainly to redundancy - not severance.

I have until wednesday to express my interest and they will get back to me and i have until friday to let them know if i accept voluntary severence which will be statutory redundancy plus ex gratia of 6 weeks wages which for me will be £5250.

I know voluntary redundancy I will be entitled to make a claim for income support ( i have a child under seven and want to take a few months to look for a suitable job rather then jump in) and child tax credits but with accepting voluntary severance would this be the same?


the turn2u calculator says I may qualify for help with my mortgage interest of £111.52 per week - this seems very high, but even if it is not this high , anything will be a god send. I know their is a waiting period, but is it easy to claim?

I have very little savings as i have been focusing on getting debt free, I have around £500 but will use that to pay down some more debt. The only plus side is that even if i take the severance, i will still be paid until the end of August as they need staff to finish the current academic year, but even so it is not that long away, as this year seems to be flying by already.
just trying to plan ahead as much as i can

(sorry for any spelling mistakes - nosey 2 year old trying to type with me)



any help appreciated

zagfles

Not sure about IS, but for CTC it should make no difference whether it's redundancy or severance assuming it's not taxable.

knithappens

Zagfles - thanks. I have been scouring for information on IS, but there is very little, i know if it is voluntary redundancy then it is ok, but voluntary severence I am unsure, as it is related to redundacy, it is all so confusing

Prudent

Goodness I do admire you teaching with three children as a single parent. I have done it with one and found it tough when she was younger.

I was just wondering how easily you will get another job if you do go voluntarily? I teach in Scotland and there are literally hundreds (sometimes as many as 700 hundred) teachers after every post that comes up. I realise in other parts of the country it is not such a dire situation.

Are you in a union? They may well be able to answer your questions., as there are so many schools in similar situations just now. The TES fourms also have quite a few postings on this topic.

knithappens

Prudence - thanks for the reply.. Yes teaching with 3 kid is tough, but it has become my norm lol, and thats another reason i want to take the severance as i spend more time with other peoples kids than my own, even the "holidays" are not that great as i spend so much time with plannign and marking as my time table is so KS4 heavy.

I am not sure if I will stay in teaching, I am looking at self employment as well as a few other things i know that there is a lot of competition for any job, I had a look on tes last night but will have another look tonight with regard to redundancy posts. My union told us the basics about pay etc , but even then they just knew the usual speil that you can read anywhere.

Mr_Falling_Star

Voluntary redundancy is not a issue with Jobcentre plus, they way they look at it is that someone is going to be made redundant so the fact that you have taken that choice means you should not be penalised.

You should be fine

knithappens

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

Voluntary redundancy is not a issue with Jobcentre plus, they way they look at it is that someone is going to be made redundant so the fact that you have taken that choice means you should not be penalised.

You should be fine

Thank you for the reply, it just keeps throwing me as readin my letter originally it said the redundancy process then when it started talking about the stages and money it refered to it as severance, to me these are the same thing, but I can not find clarification of this anywhere

Mr_Falling_Star

knithappens wrote: »

Thank you for the reply, it just keeps throwing me as readin my letter originally it said the redundancy process then when it started talking about the stages and money it refered to it as severance, to me these are the same thing, but I can not find clarification of this anywhere

It was the same for me when I left the Civil Service. Was it redundancy or was it severence? Still not sure :rotfl:

The Jobcentre will not care. They would if you were getting over £6000 (as you have to declare savings) but you are not

tcr_3

Back to the mortgage ... £111.52pw strikes me as being a very high amount indeed. That'd suggest your outstanding mortgage balance is approximately £160,000. Would that be right ?

The DWP scheme can pay towards the interest part of your mortgage. But they won't pay towards the capital repayment element ... so that could lead to a considerable shortfall in your mortgage payments, which you'd have to pay out of your own benefits / redundancy payment.

Just saying, like.

knithappens

tcr wrote: »

Back to the mortgage ... £111.52pw strikes me as being a very high amount indeed. That'd suggest your outstanding mortgage balance is approximately £160,000. Would that be right ?

The DWP scheme can pay towards the interest part of your mortgage. But they won't pay towards the capital repayment element ... so that could lead to a considerable shortfall in your mortgage payments, which you'd have to pay out of your own benefits / redundancy payment.

Just saying, like.

Thanks tcr, I thought it was very high too, my mortgage is only £66000 - but anything I will receive will be a bonus until i do get back into a suitable employment

tcr_3

knithappens wrote: »

Thanks tcr, I thought it was very high too, my mortgage is only £66000 - but anything I will receive will be a bonus until i do get back into a suitable employment

DWP interest rate is 3.63%. So assuming the whole £66,000 was eligible for assistance, that'd bring you in £46.08 pw towards your mortgage interest through the DWP scheme.

It's paid 4 weekly in arrears, but the equivalent monthly DWP contribution would be £199.68 per calendar month.