‘People are worried’: Fears for jobs as Sheffield Students' Union forced to make redundancies

Staff at Sheffield Students’ Union are facing redundancy as the organisation makes cuts following a loss of revenue during the coronavirus lockdown.
The University of Sheffield Students' Union.The University of Sheffield Students' Union.
The University of Sheffield Students' Union.

Both permanent and casual staff could lose their jobs at one of the largest organisations of its kind in the country, which has been closed since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

An employee said staff have been furloughed until the end of July but there has not been enough money in the Union’s reserves to top up their 80 per cent furlough pay to 100 per cent since April.

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Staff have been offered voluntary redundancy, with compulsory redundancies to follow should not enough staff members come forward.

A Unite spokesperson said: "They have opened the window for voluntary redundancy at the Students' Union. As yet we don't have a proposal from them on the redundancies which we would normally get from any employer.

"People are very, very worried. There's a mixture of permanent employees and there's lots of casual employees on zero-hour contracts.

"At this stage the Students' Union management know that they are going to have to cut down the size of the services in the outlets the Union currently offers. All the employees are very worried about their futures."

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It has not yet been confirmed how many staff are likely to be affected.

Hundreds of people are employed at Sheffield Students’ Union on casual and full-time contracts, including 600 casual staff.

A Sheffield Student’s Union spokesperson said they cannot comment while the redundancies are being made on a voluntary basis.

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