Redundancy threat but also new P/T job offer?

Rochdale_Guy

Hi all,

Here is the situation I face:

I currently work for the local Council and have done since July 2002, so would have reached 10 years service next year.

I work full time and work 36 1/4 hours a week, and having passed 5 years long service get 28 days holiday alowance (excluding Bank Holidays).

I earn just over £16,000 a year.

Our team is one of many strongly rumoured to be axed in the terrible local council cuts announced and my current contract is until the 31st March 2012.

If they are going to release us via redundancy, then they have to give us the legally required 90 days notice, which is by 31st December then. Nice Christmas eh? The letter will probably reach me the first week in January, just in time for my Birthday, even better eh?

I believe they will give us 1 weeks pay for each year of service, so I am due (if we are made redundant), just 9 weeks pay

The big twist here is, I went for an interview for a part time job (on a month by month basis) for only 20 hours a week with a different company in the SAME building, and was offered it on Friday. but also

It was hoped this new job would go full time come 1st April 2012 subject to new funding, but my big dilemma which has caused endless friction between me and my other half and the work colleagues I have told is:

I can't live on 20 hours pay a week, so would like to drop down part time in my current job. This shouldnt be a problem as 2 other staff only do 3 days a week and even the manager has another 2 day a week job!

Anyway, if this new job WAS full time, it's less pay (£15,575) and only 23 days leave pro-rata.

So, even if I accept this new one, I would have to do more hours in BOTH jobs and still get LESS pay.

I can't afford to do this

I also need to find out about holiday entitlement, as said above, I currently get 28 days and this one (if full time) is only 23 days.

Say I did the new job in the morning and current one in the afternoon and wanted a day off, does that equate to a FULL day off from each employer? If so, I'll never get a summer holiday ever again

There are other complications to, such as I am allowed to leave early one day a week in my current job (personal reasons) and do 6 hours that day (8.30-2.30pm with NO 30 minute lunch break).

This new job would require me to use my car and I don't know if I'd get any travelling allowance (the internally advertised job description didn't say, and I forgot to ask in the interview due to nerves!).

It also states occasional weekend working and the odd night time (to minute meetings from 5-9pm). I really don't wanna do this

It's also worse I as know everyone else in the building and help out to cover reception the occcasional dinner time even though I don't work for them. My manager says its fine, and I don't mind helping out.

Soooooooooooooooooooo, do I accept, but its less pay and don't know how holiday leave would work out and have to lump an odd weekend or weekday evening to attend meetings (which I hate). Or do I kindly decline, alienate my colleagues and just wait until the ship sinks in my current job then take the pittance of redundancy and look for a new job come April 1st.

There is no guarantee this new job would continue past 1st April either if they don't get funding, but as my colleagues tell me (I'm sure they want rid of me!), this new job would look so impressive on my CV, even for 3 months (and less pay, less holiday, weekend and evening working)

The final complication is, the Chief Executive of this other company that interviewed me and offered me the job, was also manager of the department of the current team I am in, and interviewed me for that.

She believes in me and my ability, but if I say no due to the lower pay, and hours, it'd be like a personal kick in the teeth to her.

This is killing me, it really is

Any opinion please, I need to let her know on Monday. I haven't even had the offer in writing yet! They only told me as I work in the same building.....



EDIT: and would I still get redundancy from my current job if I'd started work with a new company, or stayed in my current job part time until the last day of the contract???

swbrua

You would be quitting a job because of a rumour that it's going to be cut in the future to take a job that is only guaranteed up until the rumoured cut date of your current job.

Personally I would not take it. If you are indeed made redundant and your figures are right you'll get 9 weeks of redundancy pay, that's over 2 (unemployed) months to find a new job. If you have ~10 years of service at your current job and are made redundant it wouldn't look bad on your cv at all, however if you take the new part-time job and it doesn't get extended to full time on April 1st you'll be in a position where you quit an almost 10 year job for a 3 month job which you were then fired from, to me that would look worse on your CV.

If you were to take your current job and switch to part-time, imagine that they have to find people to cut, you would be first on the list. What's easier, covering the cost of employing 10 part-time people (offices, management) or 5 full time people? Furthermore, as you say, your colleagues are only looking out for themselves, do not consider anything they say, they're out to protect their own jobs, not yours. "...offered me the job, was also manager of the department of the current team I am in" keyword was, don't let this affect your decision now.

The only situation I would ever consider what you're considering is if you thought that if you are made redundant you'll not be able to find another job, which for someone with 10 years being made redundant (not fired) seems crazy.

My suggestion for a plan of action: Turn down the part-time job, wait for a letter about redundancy, if that letter arrives start looking around for a job. You'll have 90 days + (9 * 7) = 153 days to find a new job before your money from your council job ends. You'll have almost half a year to find a new job, taking a sub-par job with its own set of problems to avoid the 6 months problem is crazy. Totally crazy. You're not a student that just graduated university, you're a person with over 10 years of employment and you have people trying to hire you, that should prove you are employable and valuable and in my opinion would not struggle to find a new job.

It's like you've got a cookie, a delicious cookie, but only one, and you're trading half of that cookie in for the chance of maybe getting more than half a cookie back, but only guaranteed you'd get half a mediocre cookie. So you're going from 1 delicious cookie to half a delicious cookie and half a mediocre cookie. Madness!

getmore4less

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WhiteHorse

Good advice by swbrua. I'd go with that.

LittleVoice

It's not 9.5 weeks redundancy (as in the poll question) but 9 weeks (until you complete 10 years' service). However it is not "a pittance".

The "new" job isn't even something you want to do - the inclusion of weekend working and taking minutes in the evening out of normal office hours.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks everyone.

Sorry for cross posting but I am getting more responses and advice that way.

Update:

Well, another worker in our team went for an interview last week, and was offered a full time job yesterday (same Council, but a totally different department obviously), and they ACCEPTED it, leaving me, my line manager (who also works p/t in another job anyway!) and another person full time, like me.

They're getting out fast even though we haven't had any 90 days notice yet, not due until 31st December anyway, if we get it. But that's not even a viable working team now is it?

zzzLazyDaisy

Just be aware that if you drop down to part time in your current job, and then you are subsequently made redundant, your whole redundancy package would be calculated on your part-time wages (in other words there would be no allowance that you worked full-time for almost ten years). This would reduce your redundancy payment significantly, and also your notice pay.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks for that. I had it confirmed by someone in the Councils Adult Care HR department that if I accept the new job and reduce my hours in my current job, I would only get e.g. 16 hours redundancy pay x 9.5 weeks (for 9.5 years service)



zzzLazyDaisy - Assuming I get £300 a week before tax, any idea of what I'm likely to come out with? Is redundancy taxable? Hope not. And what's this notice pay?

Thanks

gingergee

Hi im from rossendale (live down south now tho) and from what i hear jobs up there are few and far between xxx Do what your feel is best and good luck xxxx

zzzLazyDaisy

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

zzzLazyDaisy - Assuming I get £300 a week before tax, any idea of what I'm likely to come out with? Is redundancy taxable? Hope not. And what's this notice pay?

Thanks

Notice pay is the notice they must give you under your contract to terminate your employment. If you work your notice, you get paid through the payroll in the normal way. But some employers will give you a payment in lieu of notice instead, which means that you leave early, with a lump sum for the money you would have earned if you'd worked your notice. The lump sum can be paid tax free provided it is not a contractual entitlement (you'd need to clear this with your union or HR, as each case is judged on its merits).

Redundancy pay - I am assuming you are under 41, and also that you have a contractual redundancy scheme as the statutory scheme is paid in full years/weeks only.

Basically any redundancy payment up to £30000 is paid free of tax and national insurance. If you get a lump sum payment in lieu of notice which is deemed to be tax free, that can be added on to the redundancy payment, to make it up to £30,000 - after that the payment in lieu of notice would be subject to tax but not national insurance.

So it may well be worth you sticking it out until decisions about redundancy have been made....

Rochdale_Guy

Evening, to anyone wondering what I chose to do..... I gracefully declined the part time job offer with the other boss.

I may regret this down the line but felt pressured by my work colleagues to "accept it or I was stupid" kind of thing with all the uncertainty in my current job.

Have a meeting at 9am tomorrow to discuss future of the team, probably be given 30 days notice now instead...

Thank you all for the replies, help, advice and support.

:grouphug: - that's a group hug BTW!