Told to apply for voluntary redundancy

TojoRalph

Victoriain said:

Thanks everyone. My concern was what benefit they have of getting staff to volunteer rather than compulsory. Also wanted to ensure he could still claim benefits so reassuring from _shel. 

If the redundancy process is carried out fairly, selection is based on a fair and transparent process and defined criteria. Whilst that criteria can of course be manipulated to get the result you want, it requires just that, manipulation. 
Voluntary redundancy is just that, a person asks to be considered for voluntary redundancy. This is entirely at the discretion of the employer and may not be granted for a number of reasons, not least of all because an employer may not wish to lose a good employee to VR when the alternative is losing deadwood to redundancy.
For me personally, asking/telling someone to apply for VR, smacks of bypassing the process completely and trying to get rid of employees they would not be able to get rid of if the redundancy process was fair and transparent.