Civil service early exit 20 February 2017 at 12:11PM in Redundancy & redundancy planning 5 replies 2.8K views

shonsay

Hello everyone,

Just looking for some advice or info from anyone who might have been through anything similar!

My work are running an early exit scheme. I am not really happy in my job (24/7 shifts) and was considering leaving this summer anyway. So I am considering applying for the exit scheme. I have worked there for about 5yrs so the compensation would maybe be around £10k or less. I'm thinking this could be win-win if I manage to line up a new job and get compensation.

My concerns are that I am in my 30's. So I would be looking to move into another job. There are restrictions on where I can work for a certain time (think it's 6mths) where I can't work in another government/civil service job or I need to pay back the compensation. The terms are a little unclear so I'm not sure just how restrictive this will be in limiting my job ops - has anyone of pre retirement age done early exit before and could advise how this restriction affected them?

Also, I assume that doing this will not affect my pension (since I am not retiring) and so the amount I've paid into it will remain there after I have left?

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks

Jackmydad

As always it depends!
What are your skills?
Will you be able to get another job with similar money etc?
I doubt very much if you will get such a good pension elsewhere, but others will know more about this.
You will AFAIK be able to collect your pension when you reach retirement age.

I took redundancy from the (then government owned) steel industry 30+ years ago when I was about 30. I had definite plans for a move to a different part of the country, and self employment, so the generous redundancy on offer was a bonus.
There is a caveat though. The money is meant to represent the value of losing your job and having to find another. As you say, if you can get another job then it's win-win. If you end up with a worse job though it might well not be. Depends on your personal circumstances too of course. If you were going to leave anyway, (and I hated shifts too), then it really is a bonus/

There really is no answer though apart from "it depends"

densol_2

Your pension will be deferred as an ex employee and grow in the pot ( without new money added ) The pension scheme can give you an estimate of your pension that is likely to be paid at your schemes retirement age ( there are a few different schemes running )

The £10k you receive will be tax free as the first £30k is tax free

Going back into the civil service within the time frame set out on the offer will mean money paid back so look at local Gov jobs that have similar competances ? " Jobs go Public" is a good site for these vacancies.

marvinandroid

I also work in the civil service and know lots of folk who took a package only to work in another government department or agency a few months later. A nice way to fund a break! In my experience the decision to pay back your compensation from another department is never taken.

Lots of jobs across the civil service thanks to Brexit.

Kynthia

marvinandroid wrote: »

I also work in the civil service and know lots of folk who took a package only to work in another government department or agency a few months later. A nice way to fund a break! In my experience the decision to pay back your compensation from another department is never taken.

Lots of jobs across the civil service thanks to Brexit.

If you rejoin the civil service pension scheme within the 6 months they will eventually spot that you shouldn't have done and claw back some of your compensation payment. MYCSP may not spot this for months or years but they will at some point when they come to look at your records. 6 months isn't long but if you don't work fir this time will you be worse off even taking into account your redundancy payment, plus you'll be an external candidate should you want a civil service job? Are you happy to work outside of the civil service?

Are there any other restrictions such as not going back to the same employer for 5 years? Would you be better applying for other internal vacancies or transfers rather than taking redundancy?

marvinandroid

I think you overestimate the efficiency of MYCSP....

There are lots of agencies across the civil service that aren't members of MYCSP.