No leavers from new States voluntary redundancy scheme

Friday 08 April 2016

No States employees have left under a new voluntary redundancy scheme that opened at the start of the year offering a pay-out to staff in return for leaving their jobs.

The overall number of States employees has dropped by 217 between January 2015 and the end of February this year – a drop of around 3.4% - but since the voluntary redundancy scheme reopened for a second phase in January, no new employees have taken it up.

The information was released in response to a Freedom of Information request by Bailiwick Express. The response took 21 working days to come back, just outside of the 20-day time limit set out in the law.

But since the story has been published this morning, the States HR department has clarified that there have been "expressions of interest" from 154 staff. Before any of those staff are allowed to take up, their applications have to be assessed by managers to see if their roles can be cut.

The scheme is part of a wider States effort to fill a £145 million structural deficit that is expected to open up by 2019 unless action is taken in the next couple of years.

Politicians have voted to approve a package put forward by ministers that includes £70 million worth of savings to the annual pay budget, as well as new charges for health and sewage that are expected to amount to around £45 million.

Figures released by the States HR department showed that:

-       A total of 93.7 staff (measured in full-time equivalents) are expected to leave the organisation by the end of 2016 under the initial scheme.

-       Since the first voluntary redundancy scheme opened, the States have taken on 285 new staff, and also given 110 staff who were on zero-hour contracts full-time or fixed-contract jobs.

-       The overall number of full-time equivalents has dropped by 217.9 between the start of January 2015 and the end of February this year.