Public sector workers are set to get less cash when leaving their roles under a government crackdown.
The government is taking aim at 'special severance payments' (SSPs) - one-off amounts that public sector workers can get when they leave.
SSPs can take several forms. As well as cash payments, some workers have loans written off or carry on getting their employee benefits after they leave work, for example.
These payments can be more than £100,000, and are given to full-time public sector staff as well as workers such as contractors.
Councils , as well as bodies such as Transport for London, can make SSPs when workers resign, are dismissed or agree to leave.
But now the government is asking public sector organisations to cut back on SSPs, in a blow to public sector staff.
A statement today from the Department for Levelling Up said: "Most public sector workers enjoy statutory and contractual redundancy or severance terms that are significantly better than the minimum statutory redundancy entitlement and are often higher than the value of redundancy or severance payments made in the private sector.
"The government is of the view that paying additional, discretionary sums on top of these entitlements (“special severance payments”) do not usually provide good value for money or offer fairness to the taxpayers who fund them and so, should only be considered in exceptional cases."
Public sector bodies will now have to justify making these payments, and make a "clear, evidenced justification for doing so", the government said.
The government added that public sector bodies should only make SSPs if there is no cheaper way of a worker leaving.
These organisations should also think hard about what other public services they could spend SSP cash on, the government said.
"All special severance payments necessarily reduce the funds that would otherwise be available to deliver important public services," a government statement said.
Some public sector bodies make SSPs to avoid an employment tribunal, and the government said they should only do this if it is cheaper.
However, these organisations are allowed to make SSPs under exceptional circumstances.
The government said: "There may be exceptional circumstances where the existing statutory or contractual entitlements, or both, are insufficient to facilitate an exit or to offer sufficient compensation for loss of employment or office."
SSPs will also be permitted where a worker's normal salary might be interrupted, such as a council worker taking a break to follow their spouse on military service overseas.
"In the exceptional circumstances where it is decided that a special severance payment should be paid, it is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure their special severance payments arrangements are fair, proportionate, lawful and provide value for money for the taxpayer," the government added.
