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Dear John
I have recently taken voluntary redundancy and now find myself in a bit of a pickle regarding getting a job next September due to the severence period. My understanding is that I cannot work for the period of one month and one day. Can you shed any light on A) why does this period exist?...I'm unemployed for Pete's sake. B) Is there any way around it and C) Does this apply to just LEA's or supply teaching agencies as well
Cheers
This is a complicated subject, and your professional association should be able to advise. Essentially, the usual reason for a post being declared redundant in schools is due to falling rolls and a subsequent drop in income. If the school immediately rehired you it might seem a bit odd to the tax man especially as redundancy pay is tax free up to a certain limit. Also there is a period of time when appeals can be launched against dismissal. But, there is also the issue of continuous service to take into account especially now that some of the time limits for unfair dismissal have altered in an employer's favour. I cannot see how a former employer can stop you taking another job with a different employer, although leaving a short period between the two jobs might be sensible, but a post in the same local authority in another community schools does raise the vexed question of teachers having different ‘de facto' and ‘de jure' employers. The same might be true if made redundant from one school in an academy chain and offered a post by another school in the same chain. So, consult your professional association who should have been involved in negotiating the terms of your voluntary redundancy and checking everything was carried out properly.
John Howson
Posters might be interested in reading the response from posters on this thread to what seems to be the same poster with a different username:
Appealing for advice
Best wishes
_______________________________________
TheoGriff. Member of the TES Careers Advice Service.
For the full TES Weekend Workshop programme please visit www.tes.co.uk/careerseminars or contact advice@tes.co.uk for one-to-one sessions.
I shall be contributing to the Moving into SLT seminar on 5th May.
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