UNISON will continue to oppose ‘ outrageous ’ exit payment plans

As previously reported – and despite continued opposition from UNISON and others – the government is about to bring in a cap of £95,000 on public sector exit payments. The last vote in Parliament has taken place and the final regulations are awaited. Once this happens, there will be a 21-day window for people to finalise any pending exits – for instance, redundancies – in order to avoid being hit by the cap. UNISON head of local government Jon Richards said: “In local government, the £95k cap includes pensions strain payments – money paid by the employer to the pension fund if someone aged 55 or over is made redundant and hence takes an unreduced early pension. “This is money that the individual never sees – but they will be penalised anyway. “Additionally, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on broader changes to exit payments in local government. “These additional, terrible changes would include limiting redundancy payments to a maximum of three weeks’ pay per year of service, setting a maximum of 15 months on the amount of a redundancy payment, and setting a maximum salary of £80,000 on which an exit payment can be based.” UNISON will continue to oppose these proposals in our response to the consultation. We will also provide a model consultation response for branches, together with other campaign actions so that members can get involved. We are also exploring legal and political options. For...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News exit payments local government pensions Source Type: news