voluntary redundancy

[futurethinker]

i am a an ordinary postal grade 56 years old with 25 years service .
i have been offered voluntary redundancy .
i would very much appreciate any comments thoughts opinions general input etc from anyone as to whether i should accept the offer or not .
especially with the possibility of privatisation looming ie working harder for less maybe pay off as well.
also from october seniority as well as age is a factor in redundancy preference/bumping order.
finally is a new eec rule coming in which says workers made redundant have to get 12 months pay instead of 6 months as at present or does this only apply to compulsory redundancies ?
for any replies to my above queries i would be very thankful from futurethinker

[Dogs of War]

What is there to think about. Are you mad, I would accepted it in the morning.

[smelly_cat_lady]

Every postie I have seen that has left without exception looks happier, healthier and more relaxed. Dunno if this helps

[Thorby Bislam]

Ask yourself one question: "do I want to be delivering mail until 3pm on a Saturday ?" The answer will influence your decision.

[fishtank]

i am a an ordinary postal grade 56 years old with 25 years service .
i have been offered voluntary redundancy .
i would very much appreciate any comments thoughts opinions general input etc from anyone as to whether i should accept the offer or not .
especially with the possibility of privatisation looming ie working harder for less maybe pay off as well.
also from october seniority as well as age is a factor in redundancy preference/bumping order.
finally is a new eec rule coming in which says workers made redundant have to get 12 months pay instead of 6 months as at present or does this only apply to compulsory redundancies ?
for any replies to my above queries i would be very thankful from futurethinker

What you need is some good sound financial advice which unfortunately none of us can give without prying far too deeply into your personal business.
The only thing i will advise is that at 56 you are still a relatively young man so you will probably need to look at getting another job....and there ain't many out there.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[somerset]

.
The only thing i will advise is that at 56 you are still a relatively young man so you will probably need to look at getting another job....and there ain't many out there.
Good luck with whatever you decide. [/quote]

At 56 still a young man ?????? What planet are you on ? We had one guy in our office with 20 odd years service . Offered £ 56 thousand reduncansy !!! Still working for them ! What a muppett !

[fishtank]

.
The only thing i will advise is that at 56 you are still a relatively young man so you will probably need to look at getting another job....and there ain't many out there.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

At 56 still a young man ?????? What planet are you on ? We had one guy in our office with 20 odd years service . Offered £ 56 thousand reduncansy !!! Still working for them ! What a muppett !

The planet where you will be expected to work until 67 or later before you get your state pension.
£56,000 sure sounds like a lot of money but without any other means of income it works out at just over 3 years wages so.....that takes him to 59...what next ?

[clashcityrocker]

I have known people with 20 years service leave with about 30 grand. 56 thousand seems very high.
The point is 30 grand isn't even 2 years wages. Unless you can get another job what do you do when all the money is gone?
I think that is the point Fishtank was making. If you can't afford to retire then don't.
£30 grand or £50 grand SOUNDS like a lot of money but it isn't, not really.
Sorry - we must have been typing at the same time.

[somerset]

Sorry ? Got my figures wrong . He has done 30 years service.
If i was offered that amount i would take it and get a part time job. just to keep ticking over . Plenty about at moment ?

[krussel]

I think you have to look where things are heading with more and more delivery work being placed on staff. Iam up to about 4hr 30 min delivery time at the moment and i am starting to struggle with over 10 years on you. Look after your health while you can as you cant buy it back for a couple of years work.

Have a look at a thread i started a while back about a mate of mine.

Good luck buddy, and welcome to the forum


http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... t=+retired" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[protect us]

take it, take it, TAKE IT ! the job is worse now than it ever has been and we are all doing much more work for less pay ( partly thanks to all the idiots that voted yes in the deal ) - i think most were proberbly indoor workers that will pick up £20.00 for nothing ! that voted yes ! - anyway back to the point JUMP at the redundancy and if you mget bit hard up take a little job on , i would jump at the chance as in ten years of this job there has been no prospects at all and everyday i feel totally worn out ,legs ache and exhausted ! its no longer worth it , and when people say "at least you got a job " there is a very thin line between having a bad job and no job , also if your lucky you can live in a house in kensington worth millions and not work ! so its a no brainer really - move forward and get out of this TERRIBLE job ! GOOD LUCK and dont look back !

[Si67]

I would definately take it! Imagine doing this job at the age of 67?? I very much doubt in the future anyone will make retirement and certainly not a healthy one!! I would take the money and run then get myself a piss easy job on a lower wage.. Theres more to life than money! You cant buy health and strength.. Im looking at taking a job on less money but a job I can realisticly see me doing at 65, at least I will make 67 (hopefully).. and I have no chance of redundancy pay from RM and am younger than you! I once loved being a postie now im really struggling im always tired, worn out, grumpy and going into later life in this job just really depresses me big time!! Go for it!!

[wacko74]

I'm amazed you've even been offered VR to be honest, in my area all RM are doing to cut back on members of staff is dissmissing people for sickness, conduct or the most trivial misdemeanors... I've not heard of anyone being offered VR for at least a couple of years now.

[Martin Walsh]

It will really depend on your personal circumstances my advice is always if you have to find work again outside Royal Mail once you take vr then dont bother taking VR unless you have a job lined up. As there are not many overall packages like Royal Mail in terms of sick leave , pensions , the amount of holiday pay etc. I know loads of ex colleagues who took VR and have needed to get jobs out there and have found its a tough old world out there. Anyone who knows the building game will know how wages for lots have gone down and that many other businesses have reduced hours etc.

If you have enough money to retire completely then take the VR.

[baldrick]

futurethinker has said he is a opg, not necessarily a delivery postie, so physical problems on deliveries with age might not apply.
VRs are being offered in my MC again. £56k (104 weeks pay) would be about the maximum VR payment for an OPG with full night shift allowance pensionability, ex-PHG allowance,TPM allowance and London Weighting.

But as others have said you need to think about what you do if you leave RM.
If you have a job lined up then you have to think about whether you would be better off, taking into account holiday pay (you must be on 6 weeks AL at RM), sick pay and pension ( your RM pension would be frozen until you are 65, or reduced by 5% for every year if you take it before 65).
Also the fact that whatever your view of it might be, you do have a Union in RM.

It's not easy to get another job at the moment, and it's certainly going to get worse with the coming ConDem cuts.
And even if you did get another job, how secure would it be? A friend of mine took EVR and got a part time job as a a security guard, and has now been made redundant from that.

If you don't find another job you would only get Job Seekers Allowance (about £66 per week). And again the ConDems are reviewing benefits and are likely to limit the amount of time that they can be claimed. How long would your £56k last? You might be forced to take a (probably PT) job on minimum wage - if you can find one, which would be even more difficult at your age.

And you would not get your State Retirement pension until 66, and probably later after the ConDem's pensions review.
I have been offered EVR, but would not take it as I don't think there's much likelihood of getting another job at my age.