June 13th, 2016

Unite held members meetings in all sites last week and below are the key collective items that were discussed. We have subsequently met with HR and fed these back and the actions arising from them are also detailed below. We will contact those members who raised specific issues related to themselves and their teams directly.

Announcement Process & Timing

Some members felt the timing of both Charlie’s statement and the re-structure announcement was cynical coming so soon after the successful DR test weekend. Whilst acknowledging that at least some of the uncertainty has been removed the timescales now seemed rushed, and some communication poor and inconsistent. The ‘pack B’ letters contained errors which has caused confusion in relation to timescales and deadlines.

We have fed all this back. HR advised that PGDS was only given the green light on the Thursday prior to the announcement and that they announced as soon as they could afterwards. They have apologised for errors in letters and have issued a new timeline this week to clarify the position.

In response to member enquiries we asked if a transcript or audio copy of Charlie’s end of May briefing could be made available. PGDS will be publishing the key points set out in the briefing this week for the benefit of those who were unable to join the briefing call.

VR process

Overall, members welcome the fact that they will be doing this via a VR process, although there has been some mixed messages from managers about people being able to apply. The Unite position is very clear and we explained it to the Company at our consultation meeting last Thursday. We believe they can achieve the headcount reduction using the VR process alone. Therefore, we will resist any move to go down the Compulsory Redundancy route and have advised that if volunteers are rejected and areas then move into a process that results in CR we will go back to members asking them what they want us to do next.

Members are concerned with the short timescales on volunteering for VR. We spoke to the Company about this and individuals who want an extension should ask and those that have asked have been given an extension. However, they do want to proceed fairly quickly so they avoid any process going into the holiday period and we understand that outcomes will be known by the 17th June.

Offshoring

There was genuine shock at the proposed Offshoring of the PMO team. (Incidentally, this shock is also shared by people outside of PGDS). The Unite position, agreed with the members in the area, is that if any member in that team want to remain in PGDS they should be found a role. We have therefore told the Company that Unite will not accept any Compulsory Redundancy as a result of this piece of Offshoring and will go back to our members with a view to ballot for action should that situation arise.

Core Server Support Services

The scale of change in this area is very high and it is not clear where people would sit within the new structure. Members are therefore telling us that they can’t make an informed decision regarding VR within the deadlines as there is no clarity. We have fed this back and we understand that individuals in the team have had conversations with the manager to better understand their situation and the deadline for VR was extended until 13th for this team. PGDS has reiterated the statements that have previously been made regarding future roles within CSS and has said in many cases there will be no change to individuals’ existing responsibilities albeit their manager may change as a result of the streamlining programme. If any instances where role responsibilities do change there will be full discussion with the individuals concerned before any implementation takes place. PGDS has also confirmed that if necessary they will also consult with Unite on the proposed changes.

Impact on Company Benefits

A number of people asked questions in relation to what happens to their benefits should they be made redundant eg, Share Options, Season Ticket Loans, pensions. A Q&A has been produced covering these topics.

Individual Consultation Meetings

There was some confusion around the consultation meetings members were having with their managers. It has been confirmed that these are INFORMAL consultations hence the reason members weren’t given the opportunity to ask for representation at these meetings. We also clarified that for those people in Pack A you are “At Risk of redundancy”, those in Pack B are “Potentially At Risk of redundancy”. This is because if the requisite number of volunteers come forward in a team it then becomes Out of Scope as the headcount reduction will have been achieved.

Future Delivery

Members raised concerns that once the numbers have been met how will PGDS meets its obligations to deliver a service to the customers. This is a serious issue for Unite and we share these concerns. We will continue to pursue this and also what impact the reduction of heads has on the remaining staff in terms of ability to take holiday, retaining existing part-time hours and will keep you informed as consultation progresses.

1st Phase?

We have asked for confirmation that this change is not Phase 1 of a rolling change programme but the final phase. We have been advised that there are currently no further plans for restructuring but that PGDS will strive to continually improve; and this includes its structure and processes.

Operators Agreement

Some members may be aware that we have a separate collective agreement covering the Operators terms and conditions. As a result of the proposed changes in this area that agreement will need re-negotiating. No work has started on this as yet but we are asking the Company for this to commence quickly so members in that area can get some clarity on the impact the proposals will have on them and their terms and conditions.

These were the main themes that came out of the meetings. If you have any questions on any of the above please email unite@prudential.co.uk or contact Wendy, Jim or Steve.

We will be holding another round of members meetings w/c 20th June and details of those will be emailed to you in the next few days.

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