12 weeks' pay in lieu of notice to be scrapped

26/12/93

The State Government is to scrap the special 12 weeks' pay in lieu of notice which was being offered to Government employees taking redundancy.

Labour Relations Minister Graham Kierath said today that all existing arrangements would be honoured but the 12 weeks' pay in lieu of notice would not be permitted in future redundancy packages unless there were extraordinary circumstances.

"The State Government's redundancy schemes are already generous, even without the extra 12 weeks' pay," Mr Kierath said.

"In future, only the provisions of the general order on redeployment, retaining and redundancy will apply.  This equates to two weeks' pay for each year of service by an employee, up to a maximum of 45 weeks, along with all accrued entitlements."

The Minister said the 12 weeks' payment had been used in the past and in current redundancy packages to meet the need for quickly rationalising public sector numbers through early severance.

Mr Kierath said that since the Government came to office, a total of 1,674 employees had departed from the public sector after accepting voluntary redundancy.

"In every instance where packages were offered, there has been a good response, with nearly all of them being oversubscribed," he said.

"The reduction in the size of the public service is in keeping with the Government's policy of better management of State Government instrumentalities and the State's finances."

Media contact:  Brian Coulter 222 9595 or 481 2133