Redundancy 1 week after colleague returned from maternity leave

[neverhadanymarblestolose]

Been informed today that my company want to make me redundant and they have offered me a (slightly) enhanced package if I go quietly. I've got an appointment with a solicitor on Thursday, but my mind is racing and was after some advice before then.

Worked there for nearly 11 years. There was me and 2 others who worked alongside each other, doing same type of role as each other but for different areas of the business. One of the other 2 went on maternity leave in December 2016 and they returned on 9th January, worked for 4 days then went off sick and then came back in today. So she'd not really been given any responsibility or told what she would be doing.

When she was off, the three roles were merged into two that me and my other colleague have done for the past 13 months.

I was told today in a meeting with my head of department, that the company is stream lining and that there isn't enough work for the three of us, so they are offering me redundancy. If I don't accept it, they said the three of us will have competency testing to determine who to make redundant.

My AIBU is, is this legal? My returning colleague effectively being given my job? It's not that any part of my role is changing, it's just there is now 3 people in a team and they only have work for 2.

Thanks for reading. It's been a pretty shit day and my head is spinning.

@JackmanAdmirer why is she unreliable ? Cuz she’s taken a year off maternity leave as law allows or cuz she’s got sick ? None of these makes a person unreliable to me.

OP sorry that you are going through this. I can't offer employment law advice but I can give an example of this happening in RL.

Both DH and I worked for the same firm but in different offices. DH was offered an enhanced settlement package like you. He saw a solicitor (paid by the firm) and managed to negotiate an even better deal as long as he went quickly and quietly, which he did.

A few years later I was offered redundancy but as this impacted many people across a number of departments we had to go through a 3 month long consultation period which was tortuous and depressing. They were closing departments so it was obvious there would not be roles to offer people but had to follow procedures. We were only offered statutory redundancy.

Both situations were awful but DH's was better from a monetary and emotional point of view.

I would go for the settlement offer and try and negotiate the best deal you can.

Also have to say both DH and I were happier where we ended up after leaving the firm.

Good luck for today

Please listen to yetanother
I work for a branch of a trade union and did a bit of training on dismissals yesterday, we only briefly touched on redundancy but I would say they definiately aren’t following procedure. When you contact your union, ask about free legal advice. Don’t worry about who your local rep is, look on the union website and ring the national number.
The tutor that delivered our training yesterday and was amazing, recommended www.cipd.org.uk and www.peoplemanagement.co.uk for employment advice as well as ACAS of course. Don’t just accept this!

In cases like this they should put all 3 of you on notice and undertake a consultation period with each of you, as they are making a role redundant and not an individual. They would usually ask if there are any takers for voluntary redundancy before making an impartial selection based on certain criteria. What they are doing sounds suspicious. You're entitled to a union rep at any meetings to discuss the redundancy process.

All of this aside, I would echo what a pp said - do you really want to fight this so you can work for an employer who would treat you so shoddily? By all means fight your corner for the best package you can get, but I'd be using any consultation period to secure another job. If you decide to do this, be aware that HMRC rules dictate that there needs to be a small period between you ceasing work with your current employer and beginning work with another in order to keep your redundancy payment. Check what that period of time is.

Redundancy is a horrible time and you'll have all kinds of emotions. Remember to hold your head high and don't fall into thinking you're not good enough. Someone out there is waiting for your skills and experience and you are worthy of their investment.

Redundancy was the best thing that happened to me. Try your best to see it as an opportunity. After 11 years, this is your chance to escape from the rut and move on to something better. Good luck.

Sorry, www.cipd.co.uk

I think people talking about consultation are getting confused with redundancy. I assume OP has been offered a settlement agreement which she does not have to say yes to. If OP says no then the redundancy legislation kicks in.

Also when I was made redundant a colleague who was on maternity leave was also made redundant. The department was closed there was no role for her. What was she going to do, sit in an empty office doing nothing? Being on maternity does not stop you being made redundant employers just have to ensure they don't discriminate against them.

The redundancy legislation kicks in as soon as they notify said individuals that their job is at risk. All 3 should have been notified and at that point the consultation phase starts, which may or may not result in an offer package.

@DaisyLand from a purely business perspective it is, she's not doing her job consistently and reliably.
I know maternity is protected by law but this kind of discrimination still goes on.
It sounds like they are trying to bend too far the other way and seem like they're not discriminating by purposely not offering redundancy to the other woman.

I spoke to both ACAS and my union.
ACAS said as it is a settlement offer, the company have done nothing wrong. They said if I chose not to accept I was welcome to phone them back for more advice.

My union rep informed me that this happened to 25 people yesterday. Half had already accepted the settlements. Only one had so far said that they wanted to refuse it. Rep agreed that there wasn't much point in fighting it, as I'm just delaying the inevitable as they will find a way to get rid of who they don't want in the end. He's going to try and get me a better deal, and he's asked me to think about what I want and the reasons I want it.

So when you say a settlement offer I presume you mean voluntary redundancy. As others have said this may affect your rights to certain benefits. And of course a lump sum may also affect your rights to means tested benefits. Take this into consideration before accepting any deal.

OP I'm sorry this has happened to you. Based on your age and length of service it sounds like you've been there almost you whole working life so what a horrible shock. Try not to take it personally as it almost certainly isn't if 25 others are also impacted. You have most likely been a resource on a spreadsheet (not a nice thought in itself I know) and this has been about restructuring a business rather than any reflection on you or your individual work.

I think it's worth reading online content re settlement offers as you have had so much misleading advice on this thread: m.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4395

There's lot more to be found online but settlement agreements often have confidentiality clauses so sometimes hard to get much in the way of specifics.

Having the right solicitor can help in terms of ratifying/improving the agreement. Try and find recommendations locally and even if you have to top up what your employer is obliged to pay do this to get the best possible advice.

Think about things that will benefit you but might not make any difference to the company. I've known someone who requested to retain her company MacBook. This was worth very little to the company but was a substantial benefit to her. Anything like that will be easier to get written in.

Make sure you agree your reference as part of the agreement and have time in the office to pull things like your cv together.

Based on your posts you have a small child and a baby at least. I hope your circumstances are such that this comes to feel like a bit of a bonus opportunity either to spend some time at home with them or if you move straight to another role to give you a nice sum to benefit your family. I've known a lot of people leave jobs through this route or redundancy and almost invariably they end up happier. After 11 years in role you're almost guaranteed to have been on a stagnated salary for a start so hopefully will end up better paid elsewhere!

Good luck with getting through the next few weeks and I hope you can come to look back on this as a great thing to have happened. Could well be that there are people in your office, perhaps even maternity colleague, envying your position!

So when you say a settlement offer I presume you mean voluntary redundancy

No a settlement offer is a different thing. Used to be called compromise agreements.

OP, HR manager here. There's a lot of lay advice on here which, although well intentioned, is incorrect and I'm worried it's clouding your judgement.

1. You have been offered a settlement agreement (previously known as a compromise agreement). The company are within their rights to do this, and although it's awful for you, it's actually a better process in terms of speed and you being able to move on.

1. The redundancy situation they talk about is likely to be genuine. They have to tell you what other options are available to you if you choose not accept the agreement. I would say they've already worked out that you would be the one to go if they have to compare the three of you.

1. Absolutely ask for more money. It will be there.

1. Speak to your solicitor and explain you will accept if they offer you what you want. If I had offered someone effectively 9 months and they wanted a year, they'd get it. I'd go through the solicitor, not the union rep to be honest.

1. Get the wording of your reference agreed as part of the agreement. The reason for leaving should be "redundancy".

I really hope you are able to move on from this. Wishing you the best of luck.

Just wanted to update to say my union rep managed to negotiate an additional 3 months pay for me, and I've got 3 interviews lined up so far. So things are looking better than they did 2 weeks ago!
Thanks for all of the advice and kind words.

That's excellent news, OP
I hope you find a suitable job quickly, so you'll be quids in

Good luck with the interviews.