Should you accept the voluntary offer?

Run the statutory floor for your age, service and weekly pay (use the homepage calculator). Then apply the employer's enhanced multiplier (often 1.5x to 3x). Compare against your expected outcome if you stay: same statutory floor, possibly the same enhanced top-up, but only if you are selected. If not selected, you keep your job and salary but live through the disruption.

Look at the pool. If 10 are in scope and 4 will go, the base rate is 40%. Adjust for the selection criteria the employer has published (skills, performance ratings, attendance). If you are near the top, your odds drop; near the bottom, your odds rise.

How long would it take you to find equivalent work? At your seniority and in your market. Multiply the gap against your monthly cost-of-living. If you have 6 months of runway plus the VR package, the financial pressure to stay is lower than if you have 1 month of runway.

Voluntary redundancy does not trigger a Jobseeker's Allowance / Universal Credit sanction (it is treated as a redundancy dismissal, not a voluntary leaving). See gov.uk JSA eligibility. The package itself may push you above the £16,000 capital limit for full Universal Credit. Pension contributions to a workplace scheme stop on termination; check whether the employer offers an enhanced pension contribution as part of the VR package.

VR offers often have a short acceptance window (1 to 2 weeks). Compulsory selection happens after. Once you accept VR, you typically cannot withdraw. Once compulsory selection has happened against you, the VR offer is usually gone. The decision must be made in the window.