Retrenchment checklist

  1. If you can arrange for your retrenchment to be effective early in the new financial year, your payment may be more tax-effective.
  2. Make sure you understand how your termination payment will affect the length of time you have to wait to be entitled to Centrelink payments.
  3. Make sure all your owed entitlements are included in your payment, and have the details of your payout checked by somebody who understands the complexity of redundancy payments.
  4. You can negotiate to have outplacement with a specialist agency that assists people who have been retrenched develop new skills and find new opportunities for work.
  5. Using your termination payment to pay off your debt without getting advice is not advised. Make enquiries about how you can maximise the benefits of the payment in your current circumstances. Note that this may mean you do not pay a lump sum off your mortgage up front.
  6. If you have salary continuance insurance through your workplace or superannuation fund, make sure you understand the status of your policy when you leave.
  7. If you received an annual bonus or long-term incentives in your job, you may need the help of a taxation specialist to advise you on their management at the time of retrenchment
  8. Decide what you want to do with your superannuation account when you leave your job. Do you want to stay with the same fund, move to another fund?. You will probably have to put your funds in an investment account,  instead of an accumulation account if you are unemployed for more than 90 days.
  9. Make a list of the company benefits you have been receiving, such as discount on health insurance, a mobile phone, a notebook computer, or business club membership. If you still need these benefits when you finish in your job, try to negotiate a mutually agreeable arrangement.
  10. Consider your plans for a mobile phone if it has previously been provided by your employer. Do you want to take the number? Can you take over and buy out the plan if you want to keep the phone?
  11. Will your employer sell you or otherwise transfer ownership to you of the notebook computer you have been using in the job?
  12. Make sure you are able to seek advice from the human resources department of the company even after you have left, and ask people you worked for and with if they are willing to be referees for you as you apply for future roles.

 

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