Staff at Newsquest: The Herald & Evening Times have been informed that the voluntary redunandancy process that was being undertaken has been placed ‘on hold’.

Around 50 in editorial staff had applied for voluntary redundancy which had been accepted but due to a legal issue with three of the applicants refusing to sign away their right to a legal claim against tbe move, the situation has come to a standstill.

It is understood that the three are lay union representatives.

A memo sent by Donald Martin, editor-in-chief, read: “The voluntary redundancy process in editorial is on hold after talks with the NUJ broke down. The NUJ presented management on January 9 with a list of over 35 editorial staff seeking voluntary redundancy. This was a union initiative and not part of our original planning but was accepted by us in good faith as a way of identifying those who did not want to be part of the new structure.

“We accepted this initiative as a package, with slight modifications, even though the mix on the list was not ideal operationally. However, further discussions with the union have now broken down.

“We will therefore be continuing to interview for suitable roles for all staff including those who have applied for voluntary redundancy. We have already said staff whose names were submitted by the NUJ subsequent to the package list are subject to review.
 
“As we have made clear, where staff decline an offered post for which they are qualified and suitable and no alternative roles can be found, the redundancy terms may be modified but will not be less than the legally-required statutory terms.

“In the meantime, processing of voluntary redundancies cannot go ahead.”

All staff will now need to reapply for voluntary redundancy as a result.

The news comes a week after more than 50 members of Scotland’s media came together to debate the redundancy plans. A debate on the subject was also recently held by MSP’s in the Scottish Parliament.