Voluntary Redundancy - Without any payment (is it legal_

clonkel

Thanks eamon. I have been in touch with the pension provider (local govt) and they confirm all the figures are correct. I am giving up £23.4k which hurts but I get my pension super early and doubt I will be offered it again due to circumstances at work. There are two of us doing the same job and the other person is much cheaper to get rid of as we expect forced redundancies therefore there is no doubt she will be chosen leaving me with her work as well as my own.

She needs the job desperately and I am happy to go therefore it works for all parties.

Looking at the replies it seems work has acted decently even letting me have 2 months gardening leave plus payment for my holidays which are at 5-weeks. I appreciate that they save money in the long term as I will not be replaced so they are not doing it as a favour to me. HR have been nice throughout and also very helpful with replies. My concern was the very short timescale I have been given to reply.

Manxman_in_exile

Right.  I was basically in a similar position to you back in 2012.  The options I had included a hybrid redundancy/early retirement one, and although that reduced what my annual pension 12 years later would have been, I decided to take it then rather than wait.  And as they were virtually certain to get rid off me anyway, it was extremely unlikely I'd accumulate any more service.  (NHS scheme).

Interestingly, they did ask for people to apply for voluntary redundancy and a lot did, but I don't think anybody got it.  Voluntary retirement was an option too, but that really severely reduced your pension

clonkel

I only intended to work for 2 or 3 more years as the HE sector has been going downhill for quite a while and it is a pretty depressing place to work. 3 years of additional AVCs would mean that I could then drawdown what I needed until I was state retirement age. This shortcuts the 3 years which means I can go now. The payment would have been wonderful but I need to move on from that quickly so it does not grow into a resentment, which I have seen with others. Therefore the additional 2 or 3 years would not have had a material effect on my pension and the break even was around my mid 70s at which point I have enough. Honestly from 76 onwards being slightly better off but having worked more years does not worry me. 
The payment would have made the break even the late 80s but hey ho.
thanks and I hope it worked out for you

Brynsam

You say it's a 'small pension' but £8.7K is hardly peanuts. Being able to take it 11 years early will cost the scheme considerably more than 11 x £8.7K so you are getting a huge pay off - well into six figures. 

clonkel

Thanks Brynsam - yes I completely agree. Initially I looked at what I was not getting then had a word with myself and as you say its not peanuts over the period.

Brynsam

clonkel said:

Thanks Brynsam - yes I completely agree. Initially I looked at what I was not getting then had a word with myself and as you say its not peanuts over the period.

Always good to have a conversation with a sensible person!!

74jax

clonkel said:

Thanks Brynsam - yes I completely agree. Initially I looked at what I was not getting then had a word with myself and as you say its not peanuts over the period.

I love this.  Look at what you do have, not what you don't.
Fingers crossed you get what you want and get to leave. It sounds like you'll be quids in over having to stay. ☺ 

clonkel

Thank you. Accepted the offer today and there are just a couple of outstanding points for them to come back with but that is it. I asked if I could clear up a few loose ends during garden leave to help my work colleagues but the answer was 'not really'. After pushing they then agreed to put the garden leave start date to next Wednesday rather than tomorrow.

Thanks for all the input I appreciate it and I am looking forward to 'embracing change'. Thanks again