DH given 1 week to decide on VS offer - Any advice?

[PastSellByDate]

Hello there:

DH is an academic at a University which is radically restructuring its departments to form a mega school. He's been going through a redudancy process for over a year. It's taken quite a toll on all of us - DH, me & 2 kids.

Last week he was offered 1 year's pay to go in June or potentially much less but he could stay for another 1 year - 2 years (to be negotiated). We were minded to go with that, because it gave him some time in employment to find another job.

Today that offer has disappeared and he's suddenly been offered even more to go at the end of this month.

We have no other job lined up. We are concerned about whether this is a good deal.

His contract says he's entitled to 6 months notice - so the current offer is 6 months + a bit more than 6 months pay.

If you've been through similar and have advice on an offer like this please let us know. We're taking this at the University wanting to push him out - are we right to think that?

Thanks for any advice on this one.

[FestiveWench]

What does he want to do next?
How realistic are his plans?
What is his REF status?

[hermioneweasley]

Given that statutory redundancy pay is 1 week (capped at £430/week) for each year of service and they could make him work his notice, I'd say this is a bleeding amazing offer. First £30k of severance (not pay in lieu of notice) will be tax free too. If you think he's likely to get another job within a year then go for it.

[PastSellByDate]

Thanks for feedback Festive & Hermione.

REFstatus sound (2 books, 6 articles in double blind high rated peer reviewed journals). How realistic to get a lectureship elsewhere - very specialised - possible but no guarantees.

So it's the likely to get another job thing.

Lots to think through. but thanks for comments.

[FestiveWench]

It is a very good deal. Suspiciously so IMO.
If it were me I'd want to find out why they were so keen to get him out so quickly. Does he have friends within the 'hierarchy' that he can trust to tell him what is going on behind the scenes.

We had VS deals on offer last year but only to people with poor REF status.

[hazelnutlatte]

my dp was offered a similar packager a few years ago. He took it and was unemployed for 4 months before finding a new job. it was quite a stressful time as we felt we couldn't spend the redundancy money in case it had to last a long time, so we paid the rent out of my salary and tried to budget as much as possible. It was a bit scary being in limbo like that but the redundancy money does provide a good safety net.
Does your dh have a good chance of getting alternative work? ultimately taking redundancy was a good thing for us as dp is happier in his new job.

[Chelvis]

I was in a similar situation - offered a great VS deal, but I was unsure. Thankfully, I had an old friend in the HR department who looked into it for me and he came back with an urgent 'take it'. Like me, he will be going, they've decided that already I'd say, based on the repeated offers. Better a good deal than the legal min.

[SolomanDaisy]

It's a very good offer I'd say and they'll probably find a way to get rid of him if they want to. How mobile are you? You'll need to be prepared to move for him to find another job, possibly outside the UK. A friend was telling me the other day that they had over 60 applications for a basic lecturing job at a mid-ranking university. What's his h index?