RTÉ has announced that it received 325 applications for its Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP), reports RTE.
Employees approved for the scheme are expected to leave the broadcaster by the end of the year.
In an email to staff, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst explained 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”, reports RTE.
He added that applications will be accepted if “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 be given the option to either accept or decline the offer of VS or VER, reports RTE.
Mr Bakhurst noted that the review process for applications has already begun. Successful applicants will leave RTÉ on either 31 October, 30 November, or 31 December.
The VEP forms part of a five-year plan introduced in 2023, during which RTÉ outlined its intention to reduce headcount by up to 400 roles, reports RTE.
RTÉ has stated that its 2025 goal for staff departures under the VEP is “over 100”.
To qualify, employees must have completed at least two continuous years of service by their departure date, with exit payments capped at €300,000, reports RTE.
Staff with between two and five years of service will receive four weeks’ salary per year of service.
Those who have worked between five and ten years will be given five weeks’ salary per year, and employees with over ten years of service will receive six weeks’ pay per year of employment, reports RTE.
These payments will be based on the individual’s final salary and recipients will not be eligible for any further redundancy pay.
In his earlier communication with staff, Mr Bakhurst cautioned that while RTÉ had received permission from the Department of Public Expenditure to run the VEP this year, future schemes might offer less generous terms, reports RTE.
Senior managers were excluded from participating.
The Government approved RTÉ’s redundancy scheme on 28 March, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
