Voluntary severance: Updated advice for members as branch seeks to improve terms

UNISON's Edinburgh Branch Committee has instructed negotiators to seek to improve on the Council's proposed terms for people seeking voluntary severance/redundancy.

Any job lost through any voluntary severance system will not be replaced and can only be viewed as a cut to jobs and services or additional work being piled on the staff left behind. We therefore must continue the campaign to oppose job losses in an effort to protect our members.

However, we do understand that many of our members may decide to leave their employment. With this in mind, we will seek to ensure the Council provides clarity to all members of staff to ensure that they are able to make an informed choice and we will be pushing for the best possible terms for any form of voluntary severance.

Voluntary Severance Edinburgh Council - Info for members

As you will be aware the City of Edinburgh Council is looking to replace the current Voluntary Release (VR) Terms with a new Voluntary Severance Scheme.

UNISON has examined the proposals and, despite Council claims of an ‘enhanced’ scheme, the terms are either very similar to the basic statutory minimum or slightly better. Having sought legal advice there is no general claim of discrimination in terms of the scheme offered but we will closely monitor how it is being implemented.

The existing VERA and VR terms still apply for now and the new terms will not apply until approved by the Council’s Finance and Resources Committee in September. Details, and the all important timescales, will be available on the Council Orb.