Redundancy, settlement payment an being single parent

[Nicegirl0101]

Hi. Im a single parent, living in private rent accomm. Im being helped by housing benefits partially due to working. I am now told that on tues i will be made redundant after 4 yrs plus service wuth them. They offered payout settlement. Not that much though. Does settlement wavier your rights to benefits help fully for the rent, or is there a wait period before i can claim . As im half claiming housing ben an not universal, does it get swapped to universal now or just adjust housing ben accordingly..

Im panicing cause need to make decision by tues to employer as they also said leave without settlement and re apply for my job back as the sold to partners during xmas, an are merging. But if im told im not needed, how can they give out my job for interviewees, nit gauranteed my job back if i do aplly as they are gonna set criterias an if i dont meet it i dont get put firward for interviews an left without settlement for nothing. Im gonna search for work asap. But during this time i need help.

Hopefully someone with better knowledge of employment law than me will come along soon and give advice, but what your employers are saying doesn't seem right.

If you've been employed by the same company for more than two years (as you have) you are entitled to two weeks worth of pay for every year you've worked there, (but some companies might be more generous) so you should receive at least the equivalent of 8 week's pay if you are made redundant.

I assume the merger means there are now two people doing the same job (you and the person from the other company) and they only need one, so you could both reapply but only one would be kept on. If you are unsuccessful you are still entitled to the full redundancy pay. Are they saying if you applied and were unsuccessful you would get nothing at all?

Yes. Its settlement an no application or redundancy with out pay an reapply an may not be successful. Im more interested if i took cash can i still claim benefits til i get new one .. dunno wat the heck to do.

So are they offering you a settlement agreement as opposed to redundancy on the basis that you won't apply for the position?

If that's the case then the settlement agreement should as a minimum be equivalent to what you would get for redundancy - one weeks pay for every year worked - but they could offer more.

They can also offer pay in lieu of notice which will be pay to cover whatever the notice period is (usually the same one week for every year worked).

You'll also need your own solicitor & I'd request that they cover the cost as part of your agreement.

Unless you're highly paid (in the region of £1,000 to 2,000 per week) it's unlikely that you'll reach the maximum amount for benefits to stop however this is likely to trigger a move to universal credit - but having a couple of thousand in the bank is probably the best time to make the jump as it'll provide a cushion for the waiting period.

How much are you due to receive OP? if your total savings/capital won't be going over £6k it won't affect your HB at all. If it puts your total savings between £6k and £16k then you would need to let them know as it would affect your entitlement. Each £250 above £6k is treated as £1 of income

and I dont think this would trigger a move to UC if you stay below £16k. If it did go above that then your HB would end and you'd then need to claim UC if you wanted help with housing costs once you went below £16k again.

I think becoming unemployed usually triggers a move to UC.

ah yes sorry not thinking. yes becoming unemployed would trigger uc if you were to apply for an out of work benefit.

I believe redundancy money is not taken into account
Apply for job seekers or UC the day after you are made redundant
Confirm when the redundancy money will be paid, because it may take a month
Ensure you get the information from your company who the contact for a reference is for your CV for job hunting. Good luck

If you have been working you will receive contributions based benefits for a certain time period. They will confirm the time period. The amount of redundancy money is not taken into account for a certain time

No back dating, get your claim in asap !

Does anyone know if i sign redundancy form or how ever its fone, can i go for a tribunal against them. As i will not have taken settlement.

Phone ACAS! Get proper advice about the "redundancy" as what you are saying doesn't sound like redundancy to me.

If it's a settlement agreement as opposed to proper redundancy then there will be a clause stating that you can't take them to a tribunal for unfair/constructive dismissal... even if they recruit for your job after you leave. I think you still can for things such as sexual harassment etc.

Give ACAS a call - I've been through this a few months ago & they were fab.

The HB won' t treat the settlement or redundancy money as savings though - they will treat it as income.

I got acas on speed dial 4 tomorrow as im out tues, thanks though. I guess i leave with redundancy an take tribunal. I asked for a reason why i was chosen after 4 yrs service an they came back with this below.

I hope you are well. I have further clarity for you with regards to your question. We are approaching the majority of people in the contact centre and client relations teams. Some work days and some work nights, some work part time and some work full time.

We appreciate the personal circumstances you have mentioned to us and we are sympathetic to your situation, and I can assure you there is no particular reason for any given selection.

You have until Tuesday to make a decision. May I reiterate if you choose redundancy and decide to apply for a role, please note you may not be selected for an interview. Interviews will be subject to having the right skill set and also dependant on the criteria set.

Why would the redundant my job, then put it up for auction asap. They partnered up over xmas, mailed us all to say everythings fine an discuss with u all in January, now i get the boot plus 4 others in my department. But tell me no given reason. I've not been on a stage for 2-3 yrs. No disiplinary action etc. In office twenty mins b4 shift starts. It don't make sense. I reckon i got chance in tribunal. If so, how do they calculate your win?, if I do win. If I go 4 my job back. I feel like I've been let down by them for this. It would make it hard to work an focus there. Or am I been childish.

If you take it to a tribunal you'll have to prove that they haven't followed the redundancy process properly & a tribunal is a costly exercise with no guarantee that you'll win.