Advice desperately needed

seaveiw

Good evening, I hope someone can help me, basically I was on holiday this week and had a message to call my manager which I did, he asked if I would be interested in voluntary redundancy, I said no straight away as knew I would only be entitled to approx 10,000, however various other members of staff messaged me and were told they were offered 40,000, I messaged my manager and asked directly how much I would expect, he sent a message back and said 35,000..... that’s a big difference obviously, I said put me forward then, I’ve been unhappy at work for a while. Anyway I’ve been put forward and it turns out that he calculated the amount wrong for everybody but they were told before any of them agreed. 

It’s very complicated as I was away from the area so no chance to pop in and talk about it. I feel a proper wally now as I have potentially talked my way out of a job now as was given mis information, I don’t have the best relationship with my manager so don’t feel like confronting him, I think I’ll have to wait to speak to his manager.
sorry I’m going on, my question is now that I’ve been put forward am I now fully committed to accept whatever they offer, which would be the amount I had first thought. 

To say I’m stressing is an understatement to be honest, I would appreciate any advice from you all to help me with this. 

Thanks 

sharpe106

No you are not committed to accept the offer. The same as they can change the offer until it is agreed. Otherwise every company would try that offer a high amount to get people to offer to leave and then say oh sorry we miscalculated its only 20% of that but you have already agreed so tough. 

Although the downside is they now know which members of staff are interested in leaving. 

Masomnia

No you're not, neither side is committed at this point. All you can really do is go to the meeting and discuss what's on offer. It sounds like it's a fairly generous scheme, and more than what you would get on a statutory basis so if you're unhappy I would seriously consider it. Try to establish for yourself what you would be entitled to if they made you redundant with no voluntary element, as this will give you an idea of whether it's a good offer or not.

seaveiw

Phew thank you, it is more generous than what they would normally offer. I have been vocal about wanting to change hours etc next year as my other half retirees and we have plans, we don’t live together so obviously still need a job. So I can relax knowing I’m not going to be out of a job without any choice in the matter. It’s so typical of my manager to get it wrong, I should of known better, normally I would take or definitely seriously think about leaving with that amount of money but I’m so anxious with the job market that I don’t feel I could at the moment, I’m also nearly 50..... although I would consider myself very employable, which is one of the reasons I’m thinking of leaving, I’ve had alot of responsibility put upon me which I’m flattered but I struggle with it as I’m an extremely conscientious person, it’s not a gift more like a pain in the backside 🙂 thank you for your replies