Q. Could you give me an indication of what type of package I could expect to receive?
The package you can expect to receive will depend upon your individual circumstances; however the voluntary severance package that Sodexo has offered to staff is:
Q. What does it actually mean that their pension will be unreduced? This is what people are thinking means that they can take their pension as if they have reached retirement age. Can you clarify what is an unreduced pension if they are between the ages of 55 and 64? Some people are of the view that this means that they will get their pensions paid as if they had carried on in the scheme until they were 65. (or their normal retirement age)
Unreduced does not mean that you will receive the benefits that you would have received at your normal retirement age. It just means that there will be no reduction for early payment.
Q. If as a result of the moves I indicate I would be willing to work at another location would I get my travel and any additional expenses paid?
There is provision in the handbook for additional travel expenditure (para 36). This provision is time bound to two years and would not include travel time.
Q. Can I ask what if anything has happened or may happen re the 85 year rule? Also when the offer stated is for up to 30 weeks - is that at full-time equivalent salary, given most of my service would have been that or will it be a mixture of full and part time?
Please contact GMPF for more information and advice on the 85 year rule and your individual pension circumstances.
If your application for voluntary severance is accepted you will receive two weeks’ actual pay for each year of completed service (up to a cap of 30 weeks). The value of your voluntary severance package will be calculated by multiplying this number of weeks by your average salary over the past 12 months prior to your agreed exit date.
Q. What criteria will the Senior Management be using to identify which staff will receive voluntary severance payments?
The process for determining voluntary severance applications and, if necessary, selecting compulsory redundancies will be in accordance with local policies. Please contact your local HR team for details of these criteria.
Q. Should compulsory redundancies become relevant on what basis will staff be 'selected' or 'assessed?'
The process for determining voluntary severance applications and, if necessary, selecting compulsory redundancies will be in accordance with local policies. Please contact your local HR team for details of these criteria.
Q. Is there a situation where it is possible that staff will have to interview for their own jobs?
Our preference is to avoid compulsory redundancy wherever possible and this is why we are offering the voluntary severance package. We hope to reach our proposed staffing levels by seeking volunteers to exit the business by mutual agreement.
If this is not possible, we may need to consider alternative arrangements, and this is likely to include compulsory redundancy. In this circumstance it is possible that staff may be required to interview for their own jobs.
Q. I am concerned that in a recent conversation with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund a member of staff informed me that there had been widespread inaccuracies in the information provided to them last year by the NSCRC which has affected pension forecasts. This will have very serious consequences for staff wanting information about retirement etc and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency in my view. Is NSCRC aware of this situation and are steps being taken to address it urgently?
Please contact your local HR team if you have any concerns in relation to this.
Q. In regard to Expression of interest in other roles and locations:
What jobs are on offer for staff post voluntary redundancy/ compulsory redundancy? Please can I see a role specification for a PO?
Details of the roles available and relevant job description will be communicated in due course after the conclusion of the consultation process.
Q. What office bases are there with locations and parking arrangements please?
Please contact your local senior management team lead for details of the office locations and parking arrangements in your specific area.
Q. Would you please confirm that due to continuance of service and although I reduced from FTE 5 days to 3 days in January 2012, that I will be entitled to the 30 weeks payment having worked for Probation 29 years on 26 July this year.
Your continuous service will be included in your voluntary severance calculations and will determine the number of weeks’ pay you will receive. If your application for voluntary severance is accepted you will receive two weeks’ actual pay for each year of completed service (up to a cap of 30 weeks). The value of your voluntary severance package will be calculated by multiplying this number of weeks by your average salary over the past 12 months prior to your agreed exit date.
Q. Also could you confirm that the half time post of Finance and Facilities Administrator at Bury Office (plus all other 3 posts at Lowestoft, Ipswich and Norwich) will be no longer required and that the F & F staff can apply for any other Band 2 posts in the 3 Local Management Centres?
Please contact your local HR team for more information regarding the posts within your area.
Q. We have received a document that states, 'Following receipt of estimated details of the voluntary severance offer, I will be required to submit a formal application to be considered should I wish to pursue my interest in this.' When or where do I get a formal application form?
The package you can expect to receive will depend upon your individual circumstances; however the voluntary severance package that Sodexo has offered to staff is:
- Two weeks’ actual pay for each year of completed service, up to a maximum of 30 weeks; and
- If you are in an age group that qualifies for early retirement (individuals between the ages of 55-64) you will have the option of either taking the payment set out above as a lump sum, or you can take early retirement. Early retirement will enable you to access your (unreduced) pension with immediate effect. Unreduced does not mean the benefits that you would have received at your normal retirement age, it just means that there is no reduction for early payment.
Q. What does it actually mean that their pension will be unreduced? This is what people are thinking means that they can take their pension as if they have reached retirement age. Can you clarify what is an unreduced pension if they are between the ages of 55 and 64? Some people are of the view that this means that they will get their pensions paid as if they had carried on in the scheme until they were 65. (or their normal retirement age)
Unreduced does not mean that you will receive the benefits that you would have received at your normal retirement age. It just means that there will be no reduction for early payment.
Q. If as a result of the moves I indicate I would be willing to work at another location would I get my travel and any additional expenses paid?
There is provision in the handbook for additional travel expenditure (para 36). This provision is time bound to two years and would not include travel time.
Q. Can I ask what if anything has happened or may happen re the 85 year rule? Also when the offer stated is for up to 30 weeks - is that at full-time equivalent salary, given most of my service would have been that or will it be a mixture of full and part time?
Please contact GMPF for more information and advice on the 85 year rule and your individual pension circumstances.
If your application for voluntary severance is accepted you will receive two weeks’ actual pay for each year of completed service (up to a cap of 30 weeks). The value of your voluntary severance package will be calculated by multiplying this number of weeks by your average salary over the past 12 months prior to your agreed exit date.
Q. What criteria will the Senior Management be using to identify which staff will receive voluntary severance payments?
The process for determining voluntary severance applications and, if necessary, selecting compulsory redundancies will be in accordance with local policies. Please contact your local HR team for details of these criteria.
Q. Should compulsory redundancies become relevant on what basis will staff be 'selected' or 'assessed?'
The process for determining voluntary severance applications and, if necessary, selecting compulsory redundancies will be in accordance with local policies. Please contact your local HR team for details of these criteria.
Q. Is there a situation where it is possible that staff will have to interview for their own jobs?
Our preference is to avoid compulsory redundancy wherever possible and this is why we are offering the voluntary severance package. We hope to reach our proposed staffing levels by seeking volunteers to exit the business by mutual agreement.
If this is not possible, we may need to consider alternative arrangements, and this is likely to include compulsory redundancy. In this circumstance it is possible that staff may be required to interview for their own jobs.
Q. I am concerned that in a recent conversation with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund a member of staff informed me that there had been widespread inaccuracies in the information provided to them last year by the NSCRC which has affected pension forecasts. This will have very serious consequences for staff wanting information about retirement etc and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency in my view. Is NSCRC aware of this situation and are steps being taken to address it urgently?
Please contact your local HR team if you have any concerns in relation to this.
Q. In regard to Expression of interest in other roles and locations:
What jobs are on offer for staff post voluntary redundancy/ compulsory redundancy? Please can I see a role specification for a PO?
Details of the roles available and relevant job description will be communicated in due course after the conclusion of the consultation process.
Q. What office bases are there with locations and parking arrangements please?
Please contact your local senior management team lead for details of the office locations and parking arrangements in your specific area.
Q. Would you please confirm that due to continuance of service and although I reduced from FTE 5 days to 3 days in January 2012, that I will be entitled to the 30 weeks payment having worked for Probation 29 years on 26 July this year.
Your continuous service will be included in your voluntary severance calculations and will determine the number of weeks’ pay you will receive. If your application for voluntary severance is accepted you will receive two weeks’ actual pay for each year of completed service (up to a cap of 30 weeks). The value of your voluntary severance package will be calculated by multiplying this number of weeks by your average salary over the past 12 months prior to your agreed exit date.
Q. Also could you confirm that the half time post of Finance and Facilities Administrator at Bury Office (plus all other 3 posts at Lowestoft, Ipswich and Norwich) will be no longer required and that the F & F staff can apply for any other Band 2 posts in the 3 Local Management Centres?
Please contact your local HR team for more information regarding the posts within your area.
Q. We have received a document that states, 'Following receipt of estimated details of the voluntary severance offer, I will be required to submit a formal application to be considered should I wish to pursue my interest in this.' When or where do I get a formal application form?
b) Then, when is the closing date for the Formal Application form to be received by you?
c) If I do not complete the Formal Application form, do you automatically take it that I no longer wish to be considered for both options
You can note your interest in applying for voluntary severance before 12 noon on Monday 10 August. You will not be required to complete any forms. Should your application for voluntary severance be formally accepted, we will provide you with a template Settlement Agreement, and you must receive independent advice from a relevant adviser. Sodexo will pay up to £250 toward the cost of this independent advice directly to the provider on production of an invoice and submission of a signed settlement agreement. An independent advisor can be a qualified lawyer, or a certified and authorised officer, employee or member of an independent trade unions or a certified and authorised advice centre worker. We will provide details of the timeframes in which you must complete the settlement agreement when we provide you with the template. An expression of interest in the voluntary severance package is not legally binding. If you do not complete the template settlement agreement we will proceed on the basis that you no longer wish to be considered for voluntary severance.
Q. Can you please state unambiguously whether or not a severance payment will be paid in addition to pension where the strain cost is less than the severance payment the individual would otherwise receive?
The voluntary severance offer as a lump sum is open to all staff. Should you be eligible for early retirement then you have the option to use your lump sum towards the cost of the pension strain. If your lump sum is insufficient the company will make up the difference. If your pension strain is less than your lump sum you will receive the difference as a payment.
Q. Why is no mention made of staff aged 65 and over? Will these staff receive pension (which can be claimed anyway if 65 is the normal pension age) and a severance payment?
Employees over the age of 65 will not qualify for the early retirement package as they are over the standard retirement age. They will however be entitled to the lump sum severance payment and will be able to claim their pension if they have reached their normal retirement age.
Q. When providing information to staff about the value of their pension, will you include the pension strain cost so it is clear whether or not all or a proportion of the severance payment is also due? If you do not supply this information how will staff know they have been treated fairly in accordance with the scheme?
The pension strain number is impacted by your final agreed exit date and is calculated by the GMPF. We have requested estimates from GMPF and when those are received we will be able to provide you with a range which will be based on an earliest and latest planned exit date (the expectation being that your agreed date would fall between these two values) . Once an exit date has been agreed we will contact GMPF for a final actual pension strain value, which we will pay to them. If any remainder from your voluntary severance lump sum is left we will make a payment of this to you. You will be able to confirm with GMPF the final value of the pension strain paid to them.
Q. You will be aware that social media have reported that in another Sodexo CRC area staff have been told they will have to seek independent legal advice before signing a legally binding settlement agreement to receive the voluntary severance package. This is not mentioned in either of your letters and nor is it referred to in the Q&A. Is it a requirement or not? If it is, will staff be given some guidance as to who they may seek advice from and will the full cost of such advice be reimbursed
Once an employee’s application for voluntary severance has been formally accepted, we will provide them with a template Settlement Agreement, and they will be required to take independent advice from a relevant adviser. Sodexo will pay up to £250 toward the cost of this independent advice directly to the provider on production of an invoice and submission of a signed settlement agreement. An independent advisor can be a qualified lawyer, or a certified and authorised officer, employee or member of an independent trade unions or a certified and authorised advice centre worker.
Q. Why is the severance payment deemed to "include any entitlement to a statutory redundancy payment" as stated in your letter of 16th July? Great play seems to have been made of this being a ‘severance’ scheme and not redundancy, so why the reference to statutory redundancy pay if anyone who exits under the scheme is deemed to have resigned or terminated their employment by mutual consent.
We are offering staff a voluntary severance package. The reference to statutory redundancy pay has been included in the interest of clarity to ensure that employees understand that statutory entitlements will be included in the voluntary severance package, not as an additional payment.
Q. Can you please clarify whether or not I am entitled to my pension regardless of the severance payment announcement. Due to my criteria meeting the 85 year rule under the Pension Regulation. I was under the impression that my pension is available to me from the age of 60 without incurring a penalty for an early exit If this is the case what is actually being offered to me in terms of an 'unreduced pension' as it should already be 'unreduced'.
Without knowing your individual details we cannot comment on your specific circumstances Pension strain is required to allow you to take an unreduced pension. If you are already entitled to an unreduced pension then the pension strain cost would be zero. If you have no pension strain cost (as inferred in your question) then your severance payment will be based on your length of service (capped at 30 weeks) and on the average weekly salary in the 12 months to your agreed exit date.
Q. Additionally if I choose to take the severance payment can I still take my pension without incurring a penalty ?
Without knowing your individual details we are unable to comment on your personal circumstances however if your belief that you are already entitled to an unreduced pension is correct then you would be entitled to take the severance payment without an early retirement reduction.
Q. What if in a smaller office, colleagues agreed that we would all be willing to drop some hours in order that none of us needed to leave and we could absorb the cuts you needed to make in this way? We have discussed this in my office and this is something that most of us would consider.
Suggestions such as this would need to be discussed with your local senior management team.
Q. Where the numbers for staff are FTEs, are your plans to fill these with part-time posts so that you have more flexibility for the roles to be covered?
This is something that would be determined at a local level.
Just reading up on the tube strikes see if we could get any ideas about how to be more effective as a union when there was a mention of Joanna Lumley's garden bridge. Allegations of corruption, and £30M of public money being wasted. Help fund the judicial review at every click.com. If we can't save probation, we can support others in their causes.
ReplyDeleteI accept controversial, but where were other unions, public sector workers and the like when we needed their support to save probation. Sorry but still feel angry that we didn't get required back up, internally or externally. Now faced with shambles and yet more humiliation from SODEXO offer.
ReplyDeleteOther unions supported us in picket lines, sometimes outnumbering our own people.
DeleteGreat and did they , Napo leadership failed to get acombined interest action from Unison . Weak Chair no idea what he was doing the previous chair set this mess in motion they both failed to take full action at the moment unpaid work was sold off in London. Those two fools sealed our fate.
DeleteChange the record ppl. What about the clients
ReplyDeleteI don't know who you are or what your motive is, but I think you are bright enough to appreciate that these are important issues and I have no intention of 'changing the record'. There will be a time and place for other issues, but it isn't now.
DeleteOk I get it. You're a good guy / women Jim. I like varied discussions and would love to go a day without hearing the word's sodexo, EVA or NAPO
DeleteGet your loins girded and give us something to distract us from the focal issue for our profession then 22.07. Come on, you know you can. Something about Cecil the Lion, maybe?. Tony.
Delete2137 2207 come on what else is more important than the clients your right and without great staff they will have even less . It is a shame you appear on behalf of the management side help make the difference not assist the problems.
Delete