Redundancies and Pensions in Yell

Redundancies – Prospect representatives have held further meetings with the company to continue the process of collective consultation on the proposed new structures of the four departments affected.

We have fed back the representations that have been made to us by members in those departments and in particular the way in which the proposals were communicated in Technology.

As a result of these representations the company have sought to provide clarification by re-communicating the proposed new structure in this area. We are aware however that, even with this, the absence this week of senior managers in this part of the business has not helped this process and have fed this back to the company.

The company has responded positively to feedback received on the proposals for the other three departments (HR, Operations and Marketing). We are now at a stage where individual consultation can commence in HR and Operations and individuals in scope there will be approached by their line manager today or tomorrow to discuss how the proposed restructure affects them personally and the options that are available to them. We anticipate being in a similar position in Marketing imminently. It is important that you make your views clear at this stage – there is no guarantee that the company will be able to grant your stated preference but if they don’t know you have one they’ll have nothing to guide the decisions that are made about your future. This is also the best time – if you have not already had the opportunity to do so during the collective consultation that has taken place to day – to flag any ideas you have for doing things differently, which might protect a role, or any opportunities that might exist for ‘bumping’ (where someone at risk wishes to remain in the company and knows of another individual in a similar role or with a similar skill set, not at risk, who wishes to leave or visa versa) that you are aware of. Whilst the company will not necessarily be able to grant a ‘bump’ in every instance (because the roles are too different for example) they have tried to be flexible about this in the past.

VR statements will be made available at 1:1 meetings so individuals are aware of the redundancy package they would receive if their preference to exit by way of VR was accepted. As stated at our meeting the redundancy terms being used in this restructuring are the same as those that have been used in previous exercises. You can check that this quote is in line with the agreed VR terms by contacting Simon Clarke or Phil Holliday in the first instance.

The process of collective consultation will continue in these areas to review feedback coming out of the individual consultation.

For the reasons highlighted above and the number of outstanding issues raised in consultation on the proposed new structure in Technology we are not yet at this stage and individual consultation will commence here as soon as the proposed structure has been agreed in principle. We are aware that this is not an ideal situation and that people are rightly concerned about their future however we believe it is important to ensure any change proposed has a clear and robust rationale, which is in the best interests of the company and its people, rather than one which has been rushed through. Please be assured that we are doing everything we can to ensure that we get to this position as soon as possible – we are meeting the company to discuss this again on Monday and will report back on any progress made as soon as possible after that meeting.

Pensions – We have held initial discussions with the company which centred primarily on how the consultation process on the proposed pensions changes would take place. It is clear that the period of formal consultation will not commence until mid-November at the earliest and that alternatives to the final salary DB scheme are still being worked through. We outlined the information that Prospect will need in order to fully assess the impact of the proposed change and the alternatives which might be worth more detailed discussion. For their part the company have made it clear that they are willing to work with Prospect throughout this process and are keen to utilise the expertise we have established in this specialist area of negotiations.

We will keep you abreast of any developments here as and when they arise.

Company Ethics
We wish to remind any members with concerns of the company’s code of ethics and confidential whistle blowing policy which can be viewed by clicking on the link opposite. Members with concerns in this area can also speak in confidence to either myself or Simon Clarke.

Remember we are here to support you
We know this is a difficult time for you but you remember we are here to support you – your branch representatives are here if you need to talk about the effect of this on you personally – please contact them on [email protected]. Alternatively you can contact me at [email protected] or on 020 8971 6034.

Remember Prospect have clear policies relating to the type of assistance that can be provided to individuals who join the union with an existing issue. Existing members receive priority and a wider level of service than those who join with an issue. So if you have colleagues who are not already members they can join here.