My poor Dad is being forced out of his job. What can he do about it?

[trixymalixy]

My Dad has worked for his current employer for about 5 years, he is now 60. Prior to that he was made redundant and had terrible trouble trying to find a job at his level, I think he sent off something like 150 applications and got nowhere. He therefore was wanting to stay in this job till he could retire.

he has never got along with his twat of a boss, but has always preformed well.

On Friday afternoon he was brought into the office and offered voluntary redundancy, but told that if he didn't take it then they would be looking into restructuring the office. So go now or be pushed basically, and a veiled threat that others would lose their jobs too.

He is the finance director a job which is necessary, so I think they would find it hard to make his role redundant.

Surely this isn't legal? Is there anything he can do about it?

[carocaro]

Go and see and employment lawyer, there is employment law they must follow to the letter. Most do a free consultation/chat, then he would have a clearer idea of how these things work.

[trixymalixy]

My Dad is going to see an employment lawyer, but he will have no evidence, it's just the twats word against his.

[carocaro]

My DH is going through a constructive dismissal case at the moment, waiting for a tribunal if ACAS can't sort it.

Regardless of evidence and there word against his, they have to follow certain procedures under law.

[WingedVictory]

trixymalixy, he has the right to representation in meetings, so it would not be "his word against theirs". If he thinks there is going to be another such meeting, he should line someone up to go with him.

[trixymalixy]

Well he spoke to a few employment lawyers in the end, one of whom is my cousin's girlfriend and they basically were of the opinion that it was his word against his bosses and there wasn't a lot he could do.

He managed to negotiate 50% more money than they were originally offering so a year's salary after tax plus his car and laptop and he leaves on Friday.

In some ways it's good that he is out of there as it was a horrible environment for him and at least having negotiated a better deal he feels he can hold his head a bit higher.

Also he can spend a bit more time with his grandchildren until he finds something else.

[cantcarryon]

Your poor dad, trixy. I am glad he managed to negotiate something out of this. It sounds like not too bad a deal and they obviously knew they were on dodgy ground.

I hope he feels better now he is out of the situation. However, I know when my dad was made redundant at a similar age when his company closed down he was in shock for months. He got very moody and needed a lot of support from the family to come to terms with it. Just bear it in mind.

[trixymalixy]

He got a very god deal considering that in a real redundancy situation he would just have got statutory redundancy pay, so they quite clearly knew they were on dodgy ground.

He is a bit of a worrier so I think he will get quite down about it, he did after his last redundancy. I'm hoping spending some time with his grandchildren will help a bit, we've already arranged for him to come to their swimming lesson next week instead of my Mum.

At least it is over quickly.I have been reading your thread cantcarryon, that sounds horrendously stressful for you and I hope it gets sorted soon.

[WingedVictory]

So soon!

Having said that in such a tone of shock, I accepted it when I was made redundant nearly 3 years ago, and was pleased with the payout. Good luck to him!

[trixymalixy]

I know Wingedvictory!! It has all been a bit of a shock, particularly for my Mum who was hoping to retire soon.