Gov considers fresh voluntary redundancy scheme

Wednesday 28 July 2021

A fresh voluntary redundancy scheme for Government employees is currently under consideration.

The Council of Ministers discussed the move in a 40-minute meeting at 13:20 on Monday (26 July).

They would not provide details of exactly what was under consideration or what decisions were taken, if any.

This, a spokesperson said, was because it constituted “policy under development” and, if a decision had been taken, it would need to be communicated internally first.

A statement approved by States Employment Board Vice Chair Constable Richard Buchanan said: “The Government of Jersey periodically offers voluntary redundancy schemes to its employees, the last of which closed in October 2019. 

“The potential for similar schemes being available to staff in the future is regularly considered as part of workforce planning.”

Under the terms of the 2019 scheme, which came amid the OneGov restructuring and followed another in 2015 focused on “headcount management”, where their post is lost and offered up as savings, or for severance, where the post cannot be lost but savings can be made through restructuring. Those who made successful applications were given a lump sum payment in return.

According to the Government’s latest set of accounts, 33 staff underwent compulsory or voluntary redundancy in 2019, costing £1.9m, while two people were compensated for loss of office (£67,459).

In 2020, a total of 34 individuals received exit payments: nine staff were made compulsory or voluntarily redundant (£374,071), 18 people were compensated for loss of office (£808,173), six had their roles outsourced (£57,876), and one person took voluntary early retirement (£42,589).

The accounts also state that 23 people – a figure including those working for subsidiary companies – received voluntary redundancy payments that made their total remuneration greater than £100,000 in 2020.

Under the Government’s plans to make £100m in savings over four years, which were announced in 2019, voluntary redundancy and early retirement were two key “work streams” for making efficiencies within the Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE) Department.

14 people applied for voluntary redundancy in 2018, and 28 in 2019, but just five applications were granted in total. 

The department has since re-employed 10 former full-time employees: three on a fixed term contract and seven to provide a professional service.