Voluntary Resignation and Seniority. Where the Employer intends to reduce the number of Employees within a classification or classification group, and where the Employer has been unable to place Employees whose positions have become redundant, the Employer will offer to Employees in the affected classification or classification group the opportunity to resign with a TSP payment in order to avoid the need for layoff(s). Where an offer to a classification of Employees (or classification grouping) for resignation results in more volunteers than is required to meet the need, the decision as to who receives severance will be determined on the basis of seniority. Where the Employer can demonstrate to the Joint Committee on Technological Change that the Employer cannot accommodate the resignation of that number of Employees volunteering to resign or that other operational considerations are necessary, the Employer reserves the right to restrict the TSP offer. For example, where too many volunteers within a classification are from within a single work area, it may not be possible to permit all to resign at once. A phase-out procedure may be utilized to maximize the number of volunteers who actually resign.
