MANAGING THE SURPLUS POLICY

This document forms part of the Managing the Surplus Framework - Administrative and Operational Grades and should be read in the context of the Framework as a whole and all the documents which constitute it. Information for line managers on the deployment of the Framework is set out in the Guide to Deployment of Managing the Surplus Framework.

1 The aim of this policy is to provide clear direction on the way in which Surplus Employees will be managed throughout Consignia plc. It applies to all Administrative and Operational Grades.

2 This policy replaces the Postal Redundancy Agreement, the Job Security Agreements and any job security undertakings contained within any agreements, statements and policies across Consignia relating to the management of surplus staff. This policy sets out the way in which surplus employees and redundancy situations will be managed throughout Consignia. This policy applies from 18 March 2002. The Reducing The Surplus policy replaces and revises earlier versions with effect of 18th March 2002

3 Policy ContentThere are eight subsidiary policies which are appendices to this Managing the Surplus policy. These are as follows: -
1. Bumping and Preference policy
2. Pay Protection policy
3. Buy down (grade) policy
4. Buy down (hours) policy
5. Criteria for offering Voluntary Redundancy
6. Voluntary Redundancy terms
7. Excess Travel Expenses policy
8. Age Retirement and Retention policy
These should be read in context with the Managing the Surplus Framework.

4 Key Principles
a) The process outlined below will be overseen and controlled by Group Centre (See "Roles and Responsibilities: Managing The Surplus").
b) Jobshop will be responsible for co-ordinating the efforts to identify and secure suitable alternative employment for Surplus Administrative Employees. Individual Business Units will have that responsibility initially for Operational Grades.
c) People issues will be managed in accordance with the Managing the Surplus Framework and the principles contained within in the Consignia Purpose, Direction and Values statement
d) The emphasis of this policy is that suitable alternative employment will be offered wherever possible to Surplus Employees with the priority being to maximise placement of employees into vacancies within Consignia (using the Redeployment Process). In order to achieve this a number of policies allowing employees to revert to a lower grade (Appendix 3), or work less hours (Appendix 4), or to mitigate any negative impact on transfer from one Business Unit to another have been developed and are set out in the Appendices to this policy.
e) Bumping will also be used to facilitate the placement of Surplus Employees in accordance with the policy at Appendix 1.
f) A Consignia wide Excess Travel and Expenses (ETE) policy is at Appendix 7.
g) Voluntary Redundancy will be offered in appropriate circumstances. Jobshop will assist in seeking external vacancies for those employees considering Voluntary Redundancy and training grants will be available for employees to undertake approved courses.
h) Communication with employees and the trade unions is of paramount importance.
i) Surplus Employees will be expected not to unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment.
j) This policy is part of the Managing the Surplus Framework and should be read in conjunction with all other documents which form part of it.
k) The overriding interests of Consignia as a whole (as distinct from that of any individual Business Unit) will be the determining factor in all decisions made in accordance with this framework agreement.
l) Consignia through its line managers and the People Change Advisor (PCA) Network will be responsible for ensuring all reasonably possible opportunities to find suitable alternative employment for Surplus Employees are pursued. Employees will also need to actively seek job opportunities and to take responsibility for their own development.

5 Trade Union and Employee Consultation
a) Consignia and the Trade Unions are committed to working together to adopt a more constructive partnership approach called Strategic Involvement. Strategic Involvement means working together on the strategic development of the Business. Regular consultation meetings will share information on Consignia's current performance, trading position and future plans. This will also enable the CWU and the relevant Business Units to identify staffing and workload forecasts.
b) Formal statutory notification must be given to the CWU headquarters representatives of affected employees (not necessarily just the Surplus Employees) at the commencement of the consultation period. Information will be provided and consultation will take place in accordance with legal requirements. Projects involving lengthy timescales should be the subject of consultation with the CWU whilst the plans are at a formative stage meaning that the statutory consultation period may be longer than the 90 days minimum.
c) In addition, Surplus Employees will be consulted on an individual basis as appropriate. In particular they will be advised of the position, the reasons for it and the likely impact on their job.
d) When a Business Unit identifies that it is likely to have Surplus Employees, this information will be shared with employees and the appropriate representatives of affected employees as soon as possible.
e) Where an employee surplus is anticipated as a result of a planned change programme, e.g. a move of location or a concentration, which would have anyway been identified within the Business Unit Strategic Involvement forum with the CWU, this potential surplus will be communicated prior to the decision being made and at least 6 months before it is due to take effect. Where however a change is as a result of a response to e.g. a loss of a customer contract or a significant market downturn, as much notice as possible will be given before it is due to take effect.

6 6.1 Managing The Surplus ProcessAdministrative and Operational Surplus Employees will be identified as early as possible and will be registered with Jobshop. Detailed databases of current and foreseen vacancies will be maintained by Jobshop in the case of Administrative Grades, in order to maximise the potential for redeployment. Jobshop and Business Units will jointly seek to identify job vacancy opportunities for Operational Grade Surplus Employees.Further detail is given in the Reducing the Surplus policy and Supporting You Through Change (which form part of this Framework) regarding the activities that will take place prior to step 1 occurring. Wherever possible a search for alternative employment opportunities will be carried out by the Business Unit as soon as a potential surplus situation is foreseen, in many cases prior to any individual Surplus Employee being identified.
Step 1 Placement
a) The search for suitable alternative employment within Consignia, for the identified Surplus Employee, will start as soon as possible.
b) Employees will be matched against vacancies on the basis of the suitability of the job.
c) Where an employee has been matched against a suitable vacancy and a reasonable training need is identified to facilitate placement, appropriate training will be provided.
d) A Surplus Employee placed in an alternative post will be entitled to ETE in accordance with the policy at Appendix 7 and pay protection in accordance with Appendix 2, as appropriate.
e) Employees will be expected to not unreasonably refuse an offer of suitable alternative employment. The process is defined within the Redeployment Process section of Reducing the Surplus.
Step 2 Voluntary Redundancy
a) If, not less than eleven weeks after the commencement of statutory consultation, the employee remains unplaced, and Consignia has explored the opportunities for suitable alternative jobs (including use of the Matching Model Database where appropriate) for at least three weeks, and he/she meets the Voluntary Redundancy criteria set out at Appendix 5, the employee will be offered Voluntary Redundancy payable on the terms set out at Appendix 6. Offers will normally remain open for four weeks, until the date that the proposed notice will commence. Any renewal of an offer after this date will be subject to the necessary concurrences being reviewed.
b) Voluntary Redundancy will only be offered using the criteria at Appendix 5 and in accordance with the principles described in Roles and Responsibilities.
c) If an employee accepts an offer of Voluntary Redundancy, he/she may apply to leave before any period of notice expires. A request from an employee to waive all or part of his/her notice period will not be unreasonably refused, subject to Consignia's ability to maintain its customer service.
d) Outplacement support will be available for all employees who have been offered Voluntary Redundancy Terms (see Roles &Responsibilities).
Unresolved Surplus
a) Where it is identified during the statutory consultation period that full resolution of a surplus situation may not be achieved by application of measures to place employees into alternative jobs and identification of Voluntary Redundancy, and some Surplus Employee will remain, Consignia Group Personnel and the CWU Head-office commit to discussion to resolve unplaced surplus staff as early as possible following the commencement of statutory consultation.
b) In these urgent discussions both parties will examine the situation to establish that all appropriate measures have been fully applied and ensure that an adequate solution is developed taking into account all reasonable measures. They will identify, and seek to agree, the necessary solutions for the unplaced surplus staff and a timetable for implementation of those solutions.
c) Agreement to the timetable for the implementation of the agreed solutions will be completed within six weeks (which can be extended by mutual agreement) of the expiry of the minimum statutory consultation period. This further discussion will not delay the implementation of already identified staff moves, Voluntary Redundancy and other aspects of the planned change.

7 Document details
7.1 Enquiry point: Alison F White/ Jac Romo /Steve Mitchel / Geof Hansford-Adams
7.2 Effective from: 18 March 2002
7.3 Version: 1
7.4 Review date: 18 March 2003
7.5 BU(s) applicable to: All
7.6 Policy type Group Strategic

Appendix 1

Bumping & Preference Policy

1 Purpose The aim of this policy is to provide clear direction on the way in which preference exercises and Bumping will be used throughout Consignia plc.

2 Audience This policy applies to all permanent Administrative and Operational Grades.

3 Accountability
3.1 Preference exercises and Bumping will be the responsibility of Personnel Directors of Service Delivery, Packages and Express, Logistics Solutions, and Cash Handling and Distribution working in conjunction with Jobshop for their Operational Grades. For all other cases including Administrative Grades in all Business Units it will be the responsibility of Jobshop in conjunction with the Business Units concerned.
3.2 Personnel Directors and Resources Directors of all Business Units will have overall accountability for ensuring the success of cross Business Unit preferencing and Bumping where it is required in order to resolve a surplus staffing situation within any part of Consignia. They will ensure that full support is given to the Business Unit with the primary surplus, or Jobshop as appropriate throughout the process.

4 Communication
4.1 Preference exercises will be conducted by either the Business Units in liaison with Jobshop (in the case of Operational Grades in SD, P&E, LS, and CHD) or by Jobshop, to identify areas of preference such as mobility, preparedness to work reduced hours etc and of those interested in possible Voluntary Redundancy that might facilitate placement of Surplus Employees by Bumping.
4.2 The process and timing will be fully communicated to all interested parties for the particular exercise and all appropriate information will then be provided.

5 Policy
5.1 Where it is in the interests of Consignia an employee (who is not a Surplus Employee) may leave Consignia on Voluntary Redundancy Terms where it would enable the direct placement of a Surplus Employee into his or her post.
5.2 Wherever practicable and where vacancies are not otherwise available, efforts will be made to find jobs for Surplus Employees by the deployment of preferencing and a strictly controlled use of Bumping to identify volunteers for redundancy across all Business Units. Agreeing redeployment units and preference exercises with the appropriate CWU representatives will be the responsibility of Personnel Directors of the Business Units concerned.
5.3 When the re-deployment unit has been agreed, Preference Forms should be sent with a suitable covering letter to all employees within it (including any employees on temporary promotion either within or whose temporary promotion has placed them outside of that re-deployment unit).
5.4 In the unlikely event that agreement cannot be reached regarding the redeployment unit, the matter will urgently be referred to Consignia Group Personnel and CWU headquarters who will resolve the matter in no more than five working days.
5.5 If, following an initial preference exercise undertaken amongst relevant employees in the appropriate Business Unit and location, it appears that it would be beneficial and result in increased placement of Surplus Employees to run a second and wider preference exercise to seek information on areas of preference such as Voluntary Redundancy, mobility, preparedness to work reduced hours etc. Business Units will be expected to do this either directly or through Jobshop. In the case of Administrative Grades this will be undertaken by Jobshop. For Operational Grades this will be undertaken by Business Units in liaison with Jobshop. (Standard Form 1.1.A is a sample preference exercise form).
5.6 Where it is evident from the outset that sufficient volunteers will not be found from within the Business Unit and location concerned, and where time is restricted, a wider preference will be organised simultaneously. However no more than two locations / Business Units will be involved in a single Bumping arrangement involving two individuals.
5.7 This wider preference exercise will be undertaken amongst all employees (in every Business Unit) of relevant grades whose place of work is within a reasonable travelling distance or journey time of the location or locations of the relevant Surplus Employees.
5.8 The details of Operational Grades who express interest in taking Voluntary Redundancy ("Volunteers") will be recorded by the Parent Business Unit and information relating to numbers, locations, skills and redundancy costs will be forwarded to the Business Unit who has the surplus staffing situation to resolve. The respective Business Units will jointly make appropriate concurrence and confirmation arrangements for those concerned. Such information showing interest in leaving on Voluntary Redundancy will continue to be held by the employee's parent Business Unit and made available for any subsequent opportunities that occur, if not able to be applied in the current exercise. If the job of more than one Volunteer is suitable for a Surplus Employee, the Business Unit(s) ultimately responsible for those Volunteers will determine selection criteria in accordance with the guidance at section A.1 of Roles and Responsibilities: Managing the Surplus.
5.9 The details of Administrative Grades who express interest in taking Voluntary Redundancy ("Volunteers") will be co-ordinated by Jobshop. In these cases Jobshop will arrange appropriate concurrences in conjunction with the Business Units concerned (see Standard Form 1.1.B Concurrence Form).
5.10 The details of the jobs of relevant Administrative Grade Volunteers will be entered on to the Matching Model Database and run against those of Surplus Employees for whom it has previously been established that there are no job matches with vacant posts.Where the Matching Model identifies a match of an Administrative Grade Surplus Employee with one of those posts, details of the Surplus Employee will be sent to the Volunteer's line manager to assess suitability in accordance with the principles set out in the Redeployment and Resourcing Processes. Consideration must be given to the skills, experience and suitability, as well as to the cost of training, of the Surplus Employee and the cost of allowing the Volunteer to leave on Voluntary Redundancy Terms. If the job of more than one Volunteer is suitable for a Surplus Employee, the Business Unit(s) ultimately responsible for those Volunteers will determine selection criteria in accordance with the guidance at section A.1 of Roles and Responsibilities: Managing the Surplus. Where there is any dispute as to suitability, Jobshop will arbitrate.
5.11 Once entered on the Matching Model Database, the details of a Volunteer's job will remain there indefinitely.
5.12 A Volunteer may at any time before accepting a formal offer to leave Consignia on Voluntary Redundancy Terms ask for the details of his/her job to be removed from the Matching Model Database or from the list held by his or her Business Unit. Job Shop will contact Volunteers whose details are on the Matching Model Database periodically to remind them of this fact.
5.13 Should the Volunteer change his/her job, he/she must inform Job Shop who will remove his/her details from the Matching Model Database. If appropriate (and at the discretion of his/her Business Unit) the details of the employee's new job may be entered on to the Matching Model Database by submitting a new Bumping Concurrence Form.
5.14 Volunteers will not be disadvantaged in the furtherance of their career with Consignia or in any other way on the basis that they have expressed an interest in Voluntary Redundancy.The cost of releasing the Volunteer on Voluntary Redundancy
5.15 Terms will be borne by the Parent Business Unit of the Surplus Employee who replaces that Volunteer.

Relevant grades will include same grade, one grade below the grade of the potential Surplus Employees, and in certain specific circumstances may include one grade above (e.g. Operational Grade to operational front line ML5 or PED). In the latter case appointment to the higher grade would only occur when full assessment had been satisfactorily completed and where there is no suitable Surplus Employee at the substantive grade of the Volunteer.

1	The aim of this policy is to provide clear direction on the way in which Surplus Employees will be managed throughout Consignia plc. It applies to all Administrative and Operational Grades.
2	This policy replaces the Postal Redundancy Agreement, the Job Security Agreements and any job security undertakings contained within any agreements, statements and policies across Consignia relating to the management of surplus staff. This policy sets out the way in which surplus employees and redundancy situations will be managed throughout Consignia. This policy applies from 18 March 2002. The Reducing The Surplus policy replaces and revises earlier versions with effect of 18th March 2002
3	Policy ContentThere are eight subsidiary policies which are appendices to this Managing the Surplus policy. These are as follows: - 1. Bumping and Preference policy 2. Pay Protection policy 3. Buy down (grade) policy 4. Buy down (hours) policy 5. Criteria for offering Voluntary Redundancy 6. Voluntary Redundancy terms 7. Excess Travel Expenses policy 8. Age Retirement and Retention policy These should be read in context with the Managing the Surplus Framework.
4	Key Principles a) The process outlined below will be overseen and controlled by Group Centre (See "Roles and Responsibilities: Managing The Surplus"). b) Jobshop will be responsible for co-ordinating the efforts to identify and secure suitable alternative employment for Surplus Administrative Employees. Individual Business Units will have that responsibility initially for Operational Grades. c) People issues will be managed in accordance with the Managing the Surplus Framework and the principles contained within in the Consignia Purpose, Direction and Values statement d) The emphasis of this policy is that suitable alternative employment will be offered wherever possible to Surplus Employees with the priority being to maximise placement of employees into vacancies within Consignia (using the Redeployment Process). In order to achieve this a number of policies allowing employees to revert to a lower grade (Appendix 3), or work less hours (Appendix 4), or to mitigate any negative impact on transfer from one Business Unit to another have been developed and are set out in the Appendices to this policy. e) Bumping will also be used to facilitate the placement of Surplus Employees in accordance with the policy at Appendix 1. f) A Consignia wide Excess Travel and Expenses (ETE) policy is at Appendix 7. g) Voluntary Redundancy will be offered in appropriate circumstances. Jobshop will assist in seeking external vacancies for those employees considering Voluntary Redundancy and training grants will be available for employees to undertake approved courses. h) Communication with employees and the trade unions is of paramount importance. i) Surplus Employees will be expected not to unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment. j) This policy is part of the Managing the Surplus Framework and should be read in conjunction with all other documents which form part of it. k) The overriding interests of Consignia as a whole (as distinct from that of any individual Business Unit) will be the determining factor in all decisions made in accordance with this framework agreement. l) Consignia through its line managers and the People Change Advisor (PCA) Network will be responsible for ensuring all reasonably possible opportunities to find suitable alternative employment for Surplus Employees are pursued. Employees will also need to actively seek job opportunities and to take responsibility for their own development.
5	Trade Union and Employee Consultation a) Consignia and the Trade Unions are committed to working together to adopt a more constructive partnership approach called Strategic Involvement. Strategic Involvement means working together on the strategic development of the Business. Regular consultation meetings will share information on Consignia's current performance, trading position and future plans. This will also enable the CWU and the relevant Business Units to identify staffing and workload forecasts. b) Formal statutory notification must be given to the CWU headquarters representatives of affected employees (not necessarily just the Surplus Employees) at the commencement of the consultation period. Information will be provided and consultation will take place in accordance with legal requirements. Projects involving lengthy timescales should be the subject of consultation with the CWU whilst the plans are at a formative stage meaning that the statutory consultation period may be longer than the 90 days minimum. c) In addition, Surplus Employees will be consulted on an individual basis as appropriate. In particular they will be advised of the position, the reasons for it and the likely impact on their job. d) When a Business Unit identifies that it is likely to have Surplus Employees, this information will be shared with employees and the appropriate representatives of affected employees as soon as possible. e) Where an employee surplus is anticipated as a result of a planned change programme, e.g. a move of location or a concentration, which would have anyway been identified within the Business Unit Strategic Involvement forum with the CWU, this potential surplus will be communicated prior to the decision being made and at least 6 months before it is due to take effect. Where however a change is as a result of a response to e.g. a loss of a customer contract or a significant market downturn, as much notice as possible will be given before it is due to take effect.
6	6.1 Managing The Surplus ProcessAdministrative and Operational Surplus Employees will be identified as early as possible and will be registered with Jobshop. Detailed databases of current and foreseen vacancies will be maintained by Jobshop in the case of Administrative Grades, in order to maximise the potential for redeployment. Jobshop and Business Units will jointly seek to identify job vacancy opportunities for Operational Grade Surplus Employees.Further detail is given in the Reducing the Surplus policy and Supporting You Through Change (which form part of this Framework) regarding the activities that will take place prior to step 1 occurring. Wherever possible a search for alternative employment opportunities will be carried out by the Business Unit as soon as a potential surplus situation is foreseen, in many cases prior to any individual Surplus Employee being identified. Step 1 Placement a) The search for suitable alternative employment within Consignia, for the identified Surplus Employee, will start as soon as possible. b) Employees will be matched against vacancies on the basis of the suitability of the job. c) Where an employee has been matched against a suitable vacancy and a reasonable training need is identified to facilitate placement, appropriate training will be provided. d) A Surplus Employee placed in an alternative post will be entitled to ETE in accordance with the policy at Appendix 7 and pay protection in accordance with Appendix 2, as appropriate. e) Employees will be expected to not unreasonably refuse an offer of suitable alternative employment. The process is defined within the Redeployment Process section of Reducing the Surplus. Step 2 Voluntary Redundancy a) If, not less than eleven weeks after the commencement of statutory consultation, the employee remains unplaced, and Consignia has explored the opportunities for suitable alternative jobs (including use of the Matching Model Database where appropriate) for at least three weeks, and he/she meets the Voluntary Redundancy criteria set out at Appendix 5, the employee will be offered Voluntary Redundancy payable on the terms set out at Appendix 6. Offers will normally remain open for four weeks, until the date that the proposed notice will commence. Any renewal of an offer after this date will be subject to the necessary concurrences being reviewed. b) Voluntary Redundancy will only be offered using the criteria at Appendix 5 and in accordance with the principles described in Roles and Responsibilities. c) If an employee accepts an offer of Voluntary Redundancy, he/she may apply to leave before any period of notice expires. A request from an employee to waive all or part of his/her notice period will not be unreasonably refused, subject to Consignia's ability to maintain its customer service. d) Outplacement support will be available for all employees who have been offered Voluntary Redundancy Terms (see Roles &Responsibilities). Unresolved Surplus a) Where it is identified during the statutory consultation period that full resolution of a surplus situation may not be achieved by application of measures to place employees into alternative jobs and identification of Voluntary Redundancy, and some Surplus Employee will remain, Consignia Group Personnel and the CWU Head-office commit to discussion to resolve unplaced surplus staff as early as possible following the commencement of statutory consultation. b) In these urgent discussions both parties will examine the situation to establish that all appropriate measures have been fully applied and ensure that an adequate solution is developed taking into account all reasonable measures. They will identify, and seek to agree, the necessary solutions for the unplaced surplus staff and a timetable for implementation of those solutions. c) Agreement to the timetable for the implementation of the agreed solutions will be completed within six weeks (which can be extended by mutual agreement) of the expiry of the minimum statutory consultation period. This further discussion will not delay the implementation of already identified staff moves, Voluntary Redundancy and other aspects of the planned change.
	7 Document details 7.1 Enquiry point: Alison F White/ Jac Romo /Steve Mitchel / Geof Hansford-Adams 7.2 Effective from: 18 March 2002 7.3 Version: 1 7.4 Review date: 18 March 2003 7.5 BU(s) applicable to: All 7.6 Policy type Group Strategic

1	Purpose The aim of this policy is to provide clear direction on the way in which preference exercises and Bumping will be used throughout Consignia plc.
2	Audience This policy applies to all permanent Administrative and Operational Grades.
3	Accountability 3.1 Preference exercises and Bumping will be the responsibility of Personnel Directors of Service Delivery, Packages and Express, Logistics Solutions, and Cash Handling and Distribution working in conjunction with Jobshop for their Operational Grades. For all other cases including Administrative Grades in all Business Units it will be the responsibility of Jobshop in conjunction with the Business Units concerned. 3.2 Personnel Directors and Resources Directors of all Business Units will have overall accountability for ensuring the success of cross Business Unit preferencing and Bumping where it is required in order to resolve a surplus staffing situation within any part of Consignia. They will ensure that full support is given to the Business Unit with the primary surplus, or Jobshop as appropriate throughout the process.
4	Communication 4.1 Preference exercises will be conducted by either the Business Units in liaison with Jobshop (in the case of Operational Grades in SD, P&E, LS, and CHD) or by Jobshop, to identify areas of preference such as mobility, preparedness to work reduced hours etc and of those interested in possible Voluntary Redundancy that might facilitate placement of Surplus Employees by Bumping. 4.2 The process and timing will be fully communicated to all interested parties for the particular exercise and all appropriate information will then be provided.
5	Policy 5.1 Where it is in the interests of Consignia an employee (who is not a Surplus Employee) may leave Consignia on Voluntary Redundancy Terms where it would enable the direct placement of a Surplus Employee into his or her post. 5.2 Wherever practicable and where vacancies are not otherwise available, efforts will be made to find jobs for Surplus Employees by the deployment of preferencing and a strictly controlled use of Bumping to identify volunteers for redundancy across all Business Units. Agreeing redeployment units and preference exercises with the appropriate CWU representatives will be the responsibility of Personnel Directors of the Business Units concerned. 5.3 When the re-deployment unit has been agreed, Preference Forms should be sent with a suitable covering letter to all employees within it (including any employees on temporary promotion either within or whose temporary promotion has placed them outside of that re-deployment unit). 5.4 In the unlikely event that agreement cannot be reached regarding the redeployment unit, the matter will urgently be referred to Consignia Group Personnel and CWU headquarters who will resolve the matter in no more than five working days. 5.5 If, following an initial preference exercise undertaken amongst relevant employees in the appropriate Business Unit and location, it appears that it would be beneficial and result in increased placement of Surplus Employees to run a second and wider preference exercise to seek information on areas of preference such as Voluntary Redundancy, mobility, preparedness to work reduced hours etc. Business Units will be expected to do this either directly or through Jobshop. In the case of Administrative Grades this will be undertaken by Jobshop. For Operational Grades this will be undertaken by Business Units in liaison with Jobshop. (Standard Form 1.1.A is a sample preference exercise form). 5.6 Where it is evident from the outset that sufficient volunteers will not be found from within the Business Unit and location concerned, and where time is restricted, a wider preference will be organised simultaneously. However no more than two locations / Business Units will be involved in a single Bumping arrangement involving two individuals. 5.7 This wider preference exercise will be undertaken amongst all employees (in every Business Unit) of relevant grades whose place of work is within a reasonable travelling distance or journey time of the location or locations of the relevant Surplus Employees. 5.8 The details of Operational Grades who express interest in taking Voluntary Redundancy ("Volunteers") will be recorded by the Parent Business Unit and information relating to numbers, locations, skills and redundancy costs will be forwarded to the Business Unit who has the surplus staffing situation to resolve. The respective Business Units will jointly make appropriate concurrence and confirmation arrangements for those concerned. Such information showing interest in leaving on Voluntary Redundancy will continue to be held by the employee's parent Business Unit and made available for any subsequent opportunities that occur, if not able to be applied in the current exercise. If the job of more than one Volunteer is suitable for a Surplus Employee, the Business Unit(s) ultimately responsible for those Volunteers will determine selection criteria in accordance with the guidance at section A.1 of Roles and Responsibilities: Managing the Surplus. 5.9 The details of Administrative Grades who express interest in taking Voluntary Redundancy ("Volunteers") will be co-ordinated by Jobshop. In these cases Jobshop will arrange appropriate concurrences in conjunction with the Business Units concerned (see Standard Form 1.1.B Concurrence Form). 5.10 The details of the jobs of relevant Administrative Grade Volunteers will be entered on to the Matching Model Database and run against those of Surplus Employees for whom it has previously been established that there are no job matches with vacant posts.Where the Matching Model identifies a match of an Administrative Grade Surplus Employee with one of those posts, details of the Surplus Employee will be sent to the Volunteer's line manager to assess suitability in accordance with the principles set out in the Redeployment and Resourcing Processes. Consideration must be given to the skills, experience and suitability, as well as to the cost of training, of the Surplus Employee and the cost of allowing the Volunteer to leave on Voluntary Redundancy Terms. If the job of more than one Volunteer is suitable for a Surplus Employee, the Business Unit(s) ultimately responsible for those Volunteers will determine selection criteria in accordance with the guidance at section A.1 of Roles and Responsibilities: Managing the Surplus. Where there is any dispute as to suitability, Jobshop will arbitrate. 5.11 Once entered on the Matching Model Database, the details of a Volunteer's job will remain there indefinitely. 5.12 A Volunteer may at any time before accepting a formal offer to leave Consignia on Voluntary Redundancy Terms ask for the details of his/her job to be removed from the Matching Model Database or from the list held by his or her Business Unit. Job Shop will contact Volunteers whose details are on the Matching Model Database periodically to remind them of this fact. 5.13 Should the Volunteer change his/her job, he/she must inform Job Shop who will remove his/her details from the Matching Model Database. If appropriate (and at the discretion of his/her Business Unit) the details of the employee's new job may be entered on to the Matching Model Database by submitting a new Bumping Concurrence Form. 5.14 Volunteers will not be disadvantaged in the furtherance of their career with Consignia or in any other way on the basis that they have expressed an interest in Voluntary Redundancy.The cost of releasing the Volunteer on Voluntary Redundancy 5.15 Terms will be borne by the Parent Business Unit of the Surplus Employee who replaces that Volunteer.
	Relevant grades will include same grade, one grade below the grade of the potential Surplus Employees, and in certain specific circumstances may include one grade above (e.g. Operational Grade to operational front line ML5 or PED). In the latter case appointment to the higher grade would only occur when full assessment had been satisfactorily completed and where there is no suitable Surplus Employee at the substantive grade of the Volunteer.