Latest news with #VoluntaryEarlyRetirement
Sunday World
23-05-2025
- Business
- Sunday World
More than 300 RTÉ staff apply for voluntary exit programme
Payments for those who leave will be capped at €300,000 A total of 325 RTÉ workers have applied for a voluntary exit programme as the broadcaster aims to cut staff numbers by up to 400. The scheme that opened last month closed today. Payments for those who leave will be capped at €300,000. Workers who are approved will leave the organisation by the end of this year. In an email to staff this evening, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said the voluntary exit programme (VEP) was now closed. 'I can confirm that we received a total of 325 applications,' he said. 'As you know, this VEP comprises a Voluntary Severance (VS) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme and was open to employees who will have completed at least two years' continuous service on the date their employment ceases.' News in 90 Seconds - May 23rd He said applications would be approved only where a robust business case was made, and it could be confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and, or redeploying an employee into that role. Mr Bakhurst said applicants could choose to accept or decline an offer of VS or VER. 'Where decisions are straightforward and approved by RTÉ's leadership team and the RTÉ board's Remuneration and Management Committee, we will make every effort to allow these people leave the organisation as early as is practical, without unduly impacting our operations,' he said. 'All applications will go through a five-stage review process throughout the coming months, as previously outlined, with final decisions on all applications being made by the leadership team and final oversight by the RTÉ board's Remuneration and Management Committee.' He said a review of applications had already begun. Mr Bakhurst said while there may be exceptions, communication of final decisions would start from September 1, 'with exits of successful applicants taking place on October 31, November 30 and December 31'. Staff with over two years' continuous service on their departure date are eligible to apply. Those with between two and five years of service will receive four weeks' pay per year of service. Those with five to 10 years' service will receive five weeks' pay per year of service. Those working at RTÉ for more than 10 years will get six weeks' pay for every year of service. In a previous email to staff, Mr Bakhurst said any future exit scheme could be less financially beneficial than this one. He confirmed that the Department of Public Expenditure had given RTÉ approval to open the scheme this year. Senior management are not eligible to apply. The exit scheme was part of RTÉ's five-year strategy announced in 2023.
Irish Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
RTE confirms more than 300 applications for voluntary exit programme
RTE has received 325 applications from staff seeking to avail of the broadcaster's voluntary exit programme. In an email to staff on Friday, Director General Kevin Bakhurst confirmed that RTE's Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP) is now closed. In the email, Mr Bakhurst said: "As you know, this VEP comprises a Voluntary Severance (VS) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme and was open to employees who will have completed at least two years' continuous service on the date their employment ceases." He said: "Applications will be approved only where a robust business case is made, and it is confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and/or redeploying an employee into that role." Confirming the 325 total to have applied, Mr Bakhurst said that "applicants can choose to accept or decline an offer of VS or VER". He said: "Where decisions are straightforward and approved by RTÉ's Leadership Team and the RTÉ Board's Remuneration and Management Committee, we will make every effort to allow these people leave the organisation as early as is practical, without unduly impacting our operations. Mr Bakhurst said: "All applications will go through a five-stage review process throughout the coming months, as previously outlined, with final decisions on all applications being made by the Leadership Team and final oversight by the RTÉ Board's Remuneration and Management Committee." He said that a review of applications has already commenced. He said: "While there may be exceptions, communication of final decisions will commence from 1 September, with exits of successful applicants taking place on 31 October, 30 November and 31 December." RTE opened the scheme on April 23, when it capped redundancy payments at €300,000. Those with five to 10 years of service will receive five weeks of pay per year, and employees working with RTÉ for more than 10 years will get six weeks' pay for every year of service. The payments will be based on an employee's exit salary and they will not qualify for any further redundancy. In a previous email to staff on the VEP, Mr Bakhurst cautioned that while the Department of Public Expenditure has given RTÉ approval to operate a VEP this year, any future scheme could be less financially beneficial than this one. The approval of a redundancy plan at RTÉ by the Government was confirmed on 28 March. The VEP comes as part of a five-year strategy announced in 2023, where the broadcaster outlined a plan to reduce staff numbers by up to 400.
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
More than 300 RTÉ staff apply for voluntary exit programme
The scheme that opened last month closed today. Payments for those who leave will be capped at €300,000. Workers who are approved will leave the organisation by the end of this year. In an email to staff this evening, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said the VEP is now closed. 'I can confirm that we received a total of 325 applications,' he said. 'As you know, this VEP comprises a Voluntary Severance (VS) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme and was open to employees who will have completed at least two years' continuous service on the date their employment ceases.' He said applications will be approved only where a robust business case is made, and it is confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and, or redeploying an employee into that role. Mr Bakhurst said applicants can choose to accept or decline an offer of VS or VER. 'Where decisions are straightforward and approved by RTÉ's Leadership Team and the RTÉ Board's Remuneration and Management Committee, we will make every effort to allow these people leave the organisation as early as is practical, without unduly impacting our operations,' he said. 'All applications will go through a five-stage review process throughout the coming months, as previously outlined, with final decisions on all applications being made by the Leadership Team and final oversight by the RTÉ Board's Remuneration and Management Committee.' He said a review of applications has already begun. Mr Bakhurst said while there may be exceptions, communication of final decisions will start from September 1 'with exits of successful applicants taking place on October 31, November 30 and December 31'. Staff with over two years' continuous service on their departure date are eligible to apply. Those with between two and five years of service will receive four weeks' pay per year of service. Those with five to ten years' service will receive five weeks pay per year of service. Those working at RTÉ for more than ten years will get six weeks' pay for every year of service. In a previous email to staff, Mr Bakhurst said any future exit scheme could be less financially beneficial than this one. He confirmed that the Department of Public Expenditure had given RTÉ approval to open the scheme this year. Senior management are not eligible to apply. The exit scheme was part of RTÉ's five-year strategy that was announced in 2023.
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
RTÉ receives 325 applications for voluntary exit scheme
RTÉ has said that it received 325 applications for its Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP). Staff members who are approved for the scheme will leave the organisation by the end of this year. RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said in an email to staff this evening that the "VEP comprises a Voluntary Severance (VS) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme and was open to employees who will have completed at least two years' continuous service on the date their employment ceases". He said that applications will be approved where "it is confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and/or redeploying an employee into that role". Applicants will have the choice to accept or decline an offer of VS or VER. Mr Bakhurst said a review of the applications has already commenced. He said the successful applicants will leave RTÉ on 31 October, 30 November or 31 December. The VEP comes as part of a five-year strategy announced in 2023 where the broadcaster outlined a plan to reduce staff numbers by up to 400. To be eligible, employees had to have completed at least two years of continuous service on the date they would leave the organisation under the scheme, with payments capped at €300,000. Staff with between two and five years' of service will receive four weeks of pay per year of service. Those with five to ten years' of service will receive five weeks of pay per year, and employees working with RTÉ for more than ten years will get six weeks' pay for every year of service. The payments will be based on an employee's exit salary and they will not qualify for any further redundancy. In an email to staff when the scheme opened, Mr Bakhurst said that while the Department of Public Expenditure had given RTÉ approval to operate a VEP this year, any future scheme could be less financially beneficial than this one. Senior management were not eligible to apply. The approval of a redundancy plan at RTÉ by the Government was confirmed on 28 March.
