Back at the start of May voluntary were offered to all the employed drivers at our deopt for which I did put my name down.
I had to fill in a simple form to get the figures from HR and the following my offer came in. I was quite happy with what was on offer and as the company is falling apart at a rapid rate I told the Manager that I would give it some thought over the weekend and give my decision the following Monday. So Monday comes and I tell I wish to officially apply for voluntary redundancy and was told that I should have the decision by the end of the week.
The package was worked out on a finishing date of 3-6-2011.
Anyway, come the end of the first week of May there was no confirmation of acceptance and it will probably next week.Next week nothing or the following week. The I was promised a definate decision by 27th May and guess what. Nothing.
Definately, without fail announcement will be made on Tuesday.
All this procrastination is pissing off me as well as other drivers who have also applied and and as you can imagine moral is lower than a snakes belly as all we want is an answer. Are we staying or going?
Baring in mind that the release date is schedualed for the 3 June its looking like we are all staying.
So Tuesday comes and goes and nothing only to be told that it is now on hold untill later this month.
Totally pissed of as no one seems to be taking responsability for the decision making and not giving any reason for the delay Myself and the others concerned resign ourselves to at least another month of uncertancy.
Yesterday afternoon I am called into the office and the boss has all the paperwork pertaining to my redundacy with a firm offer and if I wish accept my last day will be tomorrow, well today as I type this.
So there you have it, I am now a man of lesure after 13 years service :shock:
I do of course need to get myself another job at some stage, but as I see it I have 12 weeks pay in leu of notice which thay dont require me work so thats the time scale to find gainfull employment before eating into my lump some.
At least the sun is shining :D
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Ben
I'm not sure whether to congratulate or commiserate but you seem to have got what you wanted even if the process was handled in a particularly cack-handed manner. The eventual short notice must have come as a bit of a shock. Best of luck with the job search and don't forget to use sun protection.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
What a well composed reply :salute:
I would like to mirror what's been said.
FWIW I know someone who has worked as a consultant in your industry and IIRC they said that your employers are a real mess with a lot of duplication since a merger. I might be wrong of course, but at least it sounds like you have done the right thing.
Very best of luck with the job search :)
Sorry to read this Ben - good luck for the future.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Thats pretty much why I jumped ship Peter.Originally Posted by PeterM
No one seems to have clue whats going on and there appears to be no resalute business plan in place. The only thing that appears to please them upstairs is volume and no one seems to give a hoot that the vast majaority of work is being done at a loss. It seems that they are just buying in work to pay the bills at the end of each month which is clearly unsustainable.
About a month after the merge they announced that thay were losing £1m a week :shock:
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Best of luck mate, there's always something out there, meanwhile enjoy the mini break!!!
Ben, sorry to hear about your redundancy; however, I mirror the others comments and am sure you'll move onto a job where you aren't being kept in a state of uncertainty.
Your comments above remind me of quite a few situations I've seen, where employers almost try to make the situation untenable, so more people jump before the company have to resign themselves to redundancy (and the associated expense). While not all companies are that underhanded, many seem to string it out because it can prove beneficial for them (equally, some do it because they'd rather find a solution than make people redundant and therefore they wait until deaths door before pulling the plug).
Good luck, and good hunting!
Best wishes,
Bob
:shock: :shock:
Very unsustainable indeed!
Any ideas what you are going to do Ben? A change from driving altogether perhaps?
I'm sure you don't need telling, but look at the positives :)
It sounds like a farce how it was handled though; people from my team have accepted voluntary redundancy but the company have given them nearly 6 months notice and are giving regular 1:1 meetings and coaching sessions, CV workshops, time off for jobhunting etc. It can be handled well, but by the sounds of it your company are in schtuck so didnt have that luxury.
A good friend of mine is one of the ones who accepted the redundancy and he's using it as an opportunity to look at jobs that he would really like to do rather than just looking at the headline wage figure - he sees it as a real positive step.
Good luck with the job hunt!
Good luck, Ben. And try not to spend that lump sum on staff-discounted, already discounted watches on the way out!
Seriously, I hope you find something you want sooner rather than later (but remember you start eating into your lump sum from next week, not after 12 weeks).
That is of course very true Tony.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
as someone who is basically working month to month as my firm is struggling i can fully empathise, i wish you well for the future chap.
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
Good luck - hope it all works out better than you would have hope for.
It's just a matter of time...
Commiserations Ben, after 13 years service that's an appalling way to be treated imho. Sounds like you're doing the right thing though to get out of it before the receivers are called in. All the best in your job hunt and if I can help in anyway just get in touch.
Cheers,
Gary
Sounds like a good package to me, and you don't seem at all annoyed (more relieved) so all good by the looks of it. good luck with the job hunting if another job is what you want!
All the very best with it Ben- a long an drawn-out process, and a relief I'm sure it's over. Best of luck with the search to enjoying some free time too.
Best regards,
AP. :)
Hope you find something new soon!
Enjoy the Sunshine!
Matt
Sounds like you did the right thing but 12 weeks will fly by. You need to start the jobhunting activity immediately. You should be putting at least 5 hours a day into that.
as a sidebar, from what you said you are in your notice period. Be careful about how any exit agreement is worded around what happens if you find a new job before the 12 weeks is up. I've sometimes seen it done in such a way that you lose the "redundancy" part of the payout if you start a new job before you come to the end of the notice period.
Very best of luck Ben in whatever you decide to do. Based on experience, the best advice I can give you is that once the initial shock has worn off you will hopefully start to see this as an opportunity and from your posts it sounds like you are well out of it.
Looking for jobs can be a bit soul destroying so dont feel guilty about making time for yourself either.
Good luck Ben, you might find this was the 'break' you needed to look laterally and find another career :wink:
Daughter p.....d off today, get a circular (4 years running now !) how bad matters are so no salary increase this year either (several left / more workload for those left !) whilst boss, wife, old man, his wife in new Bentley/Maserati/Ferrari and Range Rovers......
These seem be the times employers find they can treat their staff like s..t :evil: thought without them they'd be a gonner themselves !!
What a cack handed way of handling voluntary redundancies! Sounds like you got what you wanted in the end Ben- good luck with the job search! It happened to me two years ago almost to the day (compulsory instead of voluntary), but I can't fault my old company for the support they put in place, we had almost two years to get used to the idea, retrain, job hunt etc.
Good luck with finding the next role. In my experience the best thing to do is give yourself a few days to relax then get back into jobhunting mode fairly quickly. As others have said the 12 weeks will fly by and you'll end up using more of that payment than you think. It might be wise to stay off SC for some time!
Onwards and upwards Ben :wink:
Good Luck Ben - hope you find something soon.
I think you have every right to feel bloody annoyed at the way you were treated, but it also sounds like you got out of there at the right time.
Very best of luck with the job hunt.
Good luck with your next move Ben. As you know my Dad and brother blew a lot of money in a failed business in the same industry, I think your definitely better off out of of it.
I resigned from my job in March and apart from the pay, I'm not missing anything!!! Hope you get fixed up soon. All the best,
Mike
Really sounds like you're best off out of it Ben. Time to relax and reflect.
The third time I got made redundant, I was beginning to enjoy the process. You've got lots to offer, take your time to find something that suits.
All the best..
David
Good luck with the job hunt, certainly sounds as though you are escaping at the right time!
All the best Ben and good luck with the job hunting. :)
Cheers,
Neil.
Atrocious way to get treated after those years of service. Hopefully you'll get something sooner rather than later.
Keep looking forward to the future!
I have been made redundant twice, and on each occassion it has really worked out for me - though I was quite despondent as it occured.
+1 - but for me it was only once, but it paid off the morgage :D
Best of luck job hunting, but start looking now as it took me over 3 months to find another job.
Andy
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
All the best Ben - I'm sure you'll find something soon.
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