RTE xit strategy working as staff head for the door
200 apply for redundancy while 187 of the 2,000 workforce take career breaks
MORE than 200 staff have now applied for redundancy and early retirement schemes at RTÉ, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The broadcaster has also approved almost 200 applications for paid career breaks this year at an estimated cost of more than €1m.
A spokesman for RTÉ told the MoS that there had been strong interest from staff in its schemes, which were announced earlier this year as part of cost-cutting measures to reduce its €20m deficit.
RTÉ had said it was seeking to cut 250 to 300 staff from its 2,000strong workforce to offset some of its sharply rising debt.
Some applications for redundancy are still being evaluated, with approval decisions to be made by the end of this year.
An RTÉ spokesman said that the final decision on all applications, which are made by the RTÉ Executive, would be ‘based on the dual
‘Majority will leave the organisation in 2017’
objective of achieving as many exits as possible to reduce staff costs, while not compromising the delivery of RTÉ’s services’.
Formal offers were made to approved applicants in late October, and those applicants had until mid-November to accept their offers.
‘The majority of these will leave the organisation in 2017,’ added the spokesman.
Presenter and newsreader Aengus Mac Grianna, who has worked with RTÉ for more than 30 years, is among those who have confirmed accepting a voluntary redundancy package, and said he communicated his decision to management more than six months ago.
In addition to its redundancy programme, RTÉ saw the highest number of staff apply for paid or ‘incentivised’ career breaks this year, with a total of 363 applications being approved over the past three years.
‘The significant changes taking place across RTÉ, notably restructuring and the voluntary exit programmes, are necessary and are driven by the pressing need for RTÉ to cut its cost base and become a more efficient and agile organisation in what is a very challenging market,’ said the spokesman.
This year, 187 staff members accepted offers of a career break, more than double the number last year. Applications from 67 staff members were refused.
Refusals for the scheme are due to a variety of reasons, such as duration sought, resources required during period sought, and duplicate applications, RTÉ has said.
The broadcaster also clarified that payments to staff who are exiting the organisation as part of an early retirement or voluntary exit schemes exclude periods of unpaid leave, such as career breaks.
Of the 187 staff on a career break this year, 151 took a short-term break of up to 18 weeks. A further 36 employees took a break of six months to a year, receiving a lump sum of either €5,000 or €10,000 depending on the length of the break. Last year, 80 staff members accepted offers of a career break, and in 2015 96 applications were approved for career breaks.
The short-term career break, which is typically in a block of four weeks, involves an upfront incentivised payment of €850 per four weeks, or 1.25% of basic salary, whichever is higher.
At minimum, the career-break scheme has cost €511,200 over the past three years.
At the upper end the cost could have been as much as €1.7m, when taking the most common amount approved – €850 a month – as the normal rate, though it has been known to be higher in some cases.
The average of these two figures is €1.1m, which is a fair estimate of the likely cost.
A spokesman said requests for career breaks were more likely to be approved when it ‘does not have a negative impact on the operation of a particular team or function, or on the delivery of a service’.
Applications for the career break scheme are only open to staff with two years of continuous service from September 1, 2016, and successful applicants first have to clear all of their annual leave.
The proceeds from the sale of land on RTÉ’s Donnybrook site earlier this year are being invested in important capital projects, restructuring and reducing RTÉ’s debt.
‘The proceeds will not be used to fund day-to-day operational expenditure,’ the spokesman added.
RTÉ accepted €107.5m from the property group Cairn Homes for 8.64 acres of land at its Montrose complex in Donnybrook – substantially more than the €75m guide price that had been set by agents Savills.
The company is planning to build apartments and houses on the site, which is a prime location.
RTÉ director general Dee Forbes has said that while a reduction in staffing levels would help alleviate some of the debt, other measures might be necessary. She has raised particular concerns about the high evasion rate for the licence fee.
Career break lump sums of €5,000 or €10,000