Applications for UCL’s temporary voluntary resignation scheme are open

UCL’s temporary voluntary resignation scheme will allow some staff to leave UCL of their own personal choice in return for a payment. This provides an opportunity for eligible staff who wish to pursue other interests or careers elsewhere, to do so with the support of a payment.  

The application form is now available through HR’s webpages. The scheme is open for a limited time only from 28 November 2022 to 15 January 2023. Applications will be considered together and approved or rejected after the closing date.  

There are additional tools which are now available through the same pages including guidance for managers to support staff in making decisions, a payment estimator, a process map and a template notification for absent staff. Please note that the payment estimator provides only an indication of the payment you might be eligible for should your application be approved. If your application is approved, you will be provided with a confirmed final calculation. 

The guidance for managers includes advice on discussing the scheme with an employee, considering applications, making recommendations, communicating the final decision with applicants and supporting staff’s wellbeing. 

The HR pages also include details of the application and approval process, eligibility to apply and FAQs which address questions you may have including about access to your pension following resignation.  

The scheme is entirely voluntary, and no-one will be encouraged to apply. However, once an application is submitted this will normally be on the understanding that if it is approved, the employee will be leaving at the end of their notice period and having signed a legal Settlement Agreement. Staff should therefore consider their application carefully and not apply speculatively. Applications will be kept strictly confidential and on a “without prejudice” basis. 

Staff who may need pensions information, are encouraged to request this early, as it can sometimes take a while for the information to be calculated and supplied. This can be requested from pensions@ucl.ac.uk and should be done as soon as possible. 

We have been running a series of open drop-in sessions open to all staff where managers and employees can find out more about the scheme and ask general questions. These have been well-attended so far and we will continue to run these throughout the scheme’s application window, the upcoming sessions are: 

• 1 December at 14 - 2:50pm 
• 7 December at 10am  
• 16 December at 10am 
• 21 December at 2pm  
• 4 January at 10am  

We have also set up a dedicated inbox to help answer any questions you may have at HRvoluntaryresignation@ucl.ac.uk and teams are also able to reach out to their HR Business Partner for a briefing or discussion around this. We will continue to update the FAQs with any common themes or updates.