Up to 150 BT employees in Enniskillen have signed up for a Voluntary Paid Leavers (VPL) scheme offered by the company, it is claimed. The scheme, where workers will receive a “leaver payment” to officially leave BT on December 31, is being offered to workers until Thursday of next week.

However, one worker, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that almost half of the 300 employees are only signing up to the scheme “out of fear” of lost wages, given that those who partake in the scheme are guaranteed to be paid until the end of December.

It is claimed this has left employees “feeling pressured” to sign up as a voluntary leaver – even if their preference would be to “keep their job in Enniskillen”.

The speculation comes amid pressure on BT from the Communication Workers Union to guarantee that the earliest leave date for all employees – regardless of whether they have signed up to the VPL scheme – will be December 31.

BT has reportedly said it will “consider this request”, and if this is granted, workers feel that fewer will feel pressured to sign up for the VPL scheme which guarantees their exit from the company.

“BT has been asked to guarantee that December 31 is the earliest date of closure,” the employee said. This takes away the benefits of employees who take up the VPL scheme, thinking that if BT closed earlier, they will still get paid until December 31. At this stage, a lot of people are only signing the VLP out of fear that if the site closed earlier, they would lose out on X amount of months of wages.”

According to other employees, who also wished to remain anonymous, between 120 and 150 workers – around half of the overall workforce at BT – have signed up to the VPL scheme.

  Another anonymous BT employee said that feelings of resistance are being felt among some workers who have not signed up for the VPL scheme. 

The employee said: “It’s a mixed bag of emotions, but myself and a lot of people are not giving in and would rather have our jobs than a one-off pay-out, which won’t last long these days with the cost of living at the moment.”