Concerns over different redundancy terms for public bodies in Wales

Martin Shipton

Concerns have been raised about the differences in redundancy payments being offered to employees of cultural bodies in Wales.

Like many organisations in the public sector, the Arts Council of Wales, the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru, which is responsible for Wales’ national museums,have been forced into a position where they are having to cut back on the number of workers they employ.

The situation has arisen because the Welsh Government’s budget for 2024-25 is worth £1.3bn less in real spending power than when it was set three years ago, as a result of inflation. In the circumstances, a decision has been taken to prioritise funding for the NHS and school education, meaning that other spending areas are taking a bigger financial hit.

A source close to the Arts Council told Nation.Cymru there was an understanding that redundancy terms offered to its employees were not as good as those on offer to employees of the National Library and Amgueddfa Cymru. If that was true, it was unfair.

Different terms

We checked with all three bodies and discovered that there were different terms on offer at each. In all three organisations the redundancy package on offer was superior to the statutory minimum, where employees have a right to financial compensation only when they have worked for an employer for two years.

The statutory redundancy entitlement is half a week’s pay for every full year worked if you were under 22, one week’s pay for every full year worked between the ages of 22 and 40, and one and a half week’s pay for every full year worked when aged 41 and over. Length of service is capped at 20 years, your weekly pay is capped at £643 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay you can get is £19,290.

The National Library’s redundancy terms are much better than the statutory minimum. Employees with less than two years service will receive one month’s pay for each completed year of service and an additional payment equivalent to one month’s pay as compensation for loss of office.

Employees with more than two years service will receive one month’s pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 12 months, and an additional payment equivalent to two months pay as compensation for loss of office.

Workers with more than two years service whom are entitled ro draw their National Library pension are entitled to one month’s pay for each year of service up to a maximum of six months and an additional payment equivalent to two months pay as compensation for loss of office.

A spokesman for Amgueddfa Cymru said: “Our compulsory redundancy policy mirrors that of the Welsh Government. I can confirm that our compulsory redundancy is equivalent to one month’s pay for every year of service up to a maximum of 12 months.”

Arts Council of Wales

The Arts Council of Wales has a redundancy policy where employees with less than two years’ continuous service have no entitlement to redundancy payments. Those with two to five years’ continuous service get two weeks’ pay for each complete year’s service, with a part year paid in proportion.

Those with more than five years’ continuous service get two weeks’ pay for each
complete year from one to five, plus three weeks’ pay for each of the next five years’ service (again with part years to be taken in proportion), plus six weeks’ pay for each year of service above 10 years (again with part years in proportion).

Dafydd Rhys, the chief executive of the Arts Council of Wales, said: “The vast majority of Arts Council of Wales staff who have applied for voluntary redundancy are better off under our policy compared to others.

“Our policy has always recognised length of service and staff receive an enhancement above statutory redundancy based on how long they have worked for us. A significant proportion of staff who applied for voluntary redundancy had more than 10 years service which entitles them to six weeks pay for every year over 10.

“Our redundancy policy was agreed through negotiation with the union which represents our workers, Unite, and it went to ballot with 73% voting in favour and therefore has a strong mandate.

“It’s not surprising that there are variances in policies between different organisations, since staff remuneration covers more than redundancy payoffs, and need to be considered within the context of general salary levels, pension contributions and holiday allowances.

“As a registered charity, the Arts Council of Wales has a responsibility to balance fairly rewarding staff for their hard work with being prudent with funds that are available to support ourselves as an organisation and the arts sector, and it is worth noting that in the region of 90% of the funding we receive is distributed throughout Wales.

“We believe that the policy strikes the right balance and we’re grateful to Unite for their input, advice and the integral part they have played as we navigate the difficult issues around voluntary redundancies that we have initiated following the recent 10.5% cut to our budget from the Welsh Government. We approached this in the spirit of trying to find a solution that best served our staff, the arts sector and audiences.”

Asked to justify the claim made by Mr Rhys that the vast majority of Arts Council staff who applied for voluntary redundancy were better off with the terms offered under its policy, a spokesman for the body said most of the workers concerned had long service, and there was no cap on the payments they would receive.