Rumours of Redundancy - Insurance?

jdandi

Hi all

The rumours going around for which there has not been an official announcement is that some of us maybe made redundant, is there a policy that can be taken out to help in this event becoming reality and what would be the minimum term of holding the policy if it came to light that the rumours were unfounded?

Appreciate your thoughts on this matter
J

Got a wife and kid to support:eek:

lisyloo

Yes, there are policies for this.
Normally there is a waiting period before you can claim.
It may vary from company to company but it's around about 3 months.
This is to stop people doing exactly what you are proposing (no offence but they have to run a business).

What I suggest you do is find out what you would be entitled to if your employer does make you redundant.
There is a statutory minimum but your employer may offer you more in your contract, so check it out.

Look at what you will get and what savings you have and your monthly outgoings then you will know what your financial position is.

It may also be worth spending a few hours getting a cv together and maybe looking on the internet for job vacancies in your location just to get a feel for the demand and salaries.

You should consider whether you need insurance on a longer term basis because it may not pay out due to the waiting period.
Also consider whether there is any possible truth in the rumours. Is the company going through a bad time?

I have been made redundant twice and in both cases I found a job within a couple of weeks (the 2nd time I had 5 job offers within a week). So it's not necessarily all doom and gloom.

So my advice is
1) Assess your financial situation (maybe a good time to get a bit more organised).
2) Assess the demand for your skills and how easy it would be to get another job.
3) Try to consider objectively whether you think there is any truth in the rumours.

If you don't get made redundant then the effort put into 1) and 2) will not be wasted as they are useful activities anyway.

jdandi

Nice advice which I will act upon over the next few days
cheers
J

Stephen_Leak

Having been there, albeit only once, I can heartily endorse lisyloo's advice.

I can only add that, now that the dust has settled, it was the best thing to happen to me: my stress in my old job was - literally - killing me! My new job may only pay half of what I earned before but - thanks to MSE - I now actually have more spare cash. I am also still alive and happy to be so.

One unexpected thing that really kept me going was a question from Spencer Johnson's book on change management, "Who Moved My Cheese?": "What would you do, if you weren't afraid?"