PCS has been arguing that any FTA member of staff, who has 2 or more years service, should be entitled to financial compensation at the time that their contract is ended.
The Civil Service Compensation Scheme rules state:
"As long as the fixed term employee has at least 2 years qualifying service and is being dismissed for redundancy, they will receive the same compulsory compensation terms as a permanent member."
PCS believes that every FTA who has their contract ended at the contract end date, or at the end of any contract extension period, is being dismissed for redundancy. We therefore have put to DWP that every FTA with at least 2 years qualifying service should be entitled to compensation when their contract ends.
Unfortunately DWP has refused to accept this. Instead they have argued that they took FTA’s on to do a set period of work and are terminating the FTA’s at their due contract end date. In legal terms they maintain that this termination at the contract end date isfor ‘some other substantial reason’ and not a redundancy situation. As a result they maintain they do not have to pay redundancy compensation.
PCS does not accept DWP’s position on this issue. We are currently taking legal advice to clarify the position and assess what our next steps should be.
PCS will be issuing further guidance and advice to reps and members as soon as possible.
