You still need to include that information in your Section 189(3) notice, but you will simply say that a criteria is not necessary due to not selecting specific individuals, but rather that you are contemplating dismissing the entire workforce. I would also add: Should it become necessary to select employees, a fair and objective criteria will be used.
Hi Carmen, I don't know if you can advice me on how to approach my situation. My company is going through retrenchments and I opted for the VRP/VSP. But the employer rejected my offer stating my skills are still required for operations. Since I hadn't elaborated on why I opted for the VRP in the application forms, I wrote to management in reply elaborating that my family's well-being is under severe pressure due to a long drawn divorce process I've been going through with my wife. During the course of 2021 my second born child attempted suicide twice and spent much of the year attending therapy. She consequently didn't perform so well for her final Matric. My other three kids also exhibit various stability issues that really need my full attention to try resolve. So I had sessions with management to try reason with them that I seriously need timeout to go sort out my divorce matter and take closer care of my 4 kids to try stabilize their mental health and see how I can try normalize their life. My pleadings fell on deaf ears as the management thought all I needed to do is attend our wellness programs in the company to sort myself and my family life's out. I then found out later that two of my equally skilled colleagues who are core to our operations, with one younger than me, have been granted the VRP offer. This meant on top of my already very heavy work load I have been carrying all along, my continually disintegrating family life, I was going to have to carry the workload of my departing colleagues. In my view the work environment was practically not going to be practical and the unreasonable working conditions risked driving me to a breaking point. I thus felt the only other option I had left was to resign so I submitted my resignation. I however feel the employer treated me unfairly and I tried to obtain details on how they decided I was not eligible for VRP and my other two colleagues qualified for it even though it would leave the team severely crippled. Unfortunately the response was not detailed... they simply said as stated in the documentation for the retrenchment process they shared with us "VRPs will be granted at management discretion"! Is it permissible for management discretion criteria to be unfair and/or unbalanced? If management discretion results in an impractical work environment for me, can I raise the matter with the CCMA to try and remedy the situation as I feel I was essentially deliberately cornered into resigning? I was not planning to work for any other company for the next six months so I can focus on resolving my family issues because I was hoping VRP would financially help me along. Thanks in advance for your guidance on the matter. I look forward to hear from you.
Thank you. This was very helpful. So do you still have to show that you considered certain criteria even though you want to retrench everyone?
You still need to include that information in your Section 189(3) notice, but you will simply say that a criteria is not necessary due to not selecting specific individuals, but rather that you are contemplating dismissing the entire workforce. I would also add: Should it become necessary to select employees, a fair and objective criteria will be used.
Hi Carmen, I don't know if you can advice me on how to approach my situation. My company is going through retrenchments and I opted for the VRP/VSP. But the employer rejected my offer stating my skills are still required for operations. Since I hadn't elaborated on why I opted for the VRP in the application forms, I wrote to management in reply elaborating that my family's well-being is under severe pressure due to a long drawn divorce process I've been going through with my wife. During the course of 2021 my second born child attempted suicide twice and spent much of the year attending therapy. She consequently didn't perform so well for her final Matric. My other three kids also exhibit various stability issues that really need my full attention to try resolve. So I had sessions with management to try reason with them that I seriously need timeout to go sort out my divorce matter and take closer care of my 4 kids to try stabilize their mental health and see how I can try normalize their life. My pleadings fell on deaf ears as the management thought all I needed to do is attend our wellness programs in the company to sort myself and my family life's out. I then found out later that two of my equally skilled colleagues who are core to our operations, with one younger than me, have been granted the VRP offer. This meant on top of my already very heavy work load I have been carrying all along, my continually disintegrating family life, I was going to have to carry the workload of my departing colleagues. In my view the work environment was practically not going to be practical and the unreasonable working conditions risked driving me to a breaking point. I thus felt the only other option I had left was to resign so I submitted my resignation. I however feel the employer treated me unfairly and I tried to obtain details on how they decided I was not eligible for VRP and my other two colleagues qualified for it even though it would leave the team severely crippled. Unfortunately the response was not detailed... they simply said as stated in the documentation for the retrenchment process they shared with us "VRPs will be granted at management discretion"! Is it permissible for management discretion criteria to be unfair and/or unbalanced? If management discretion results in an impractical work environment for me, can I raise the matter with the CCMA to try and remedy the situation as I feel I was essentially deliberately cornered into resigning? I was not planning to work for any other company for the next six months so I can focus on resolving my family issues because I was hoping VRP would financially help me along. Thanks in advance for your guidance on the matter. I look forward to hear from you.