Facing redundancy whilst on sick leave

[SpriteFantaCoke]

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation and can provide advice or support.

I've been at my current job for nearly 2 years and went through this after we merged with another company at the beginning of last year. I managed to keep my job, but it was announced today that there would be more redundancies in the next month due to employers NI/tax increases come April.

I'm currently off sick due to stress and anxiety at work (long story) and have no idea what happens next. HR and senior management haven't provided any information and pretty much dismissed everyone's questions during the call. They've said that we will receive letters with more information in the next 24 hours.

It also seems like they have cherry picked who is at risk as not everyone was on the call (this happened last time) 🤷🏼‍♀️. We were offered voluntary redundancy last year but it wasn't mentioned this time so I'm not sure if that's a possibility?!

Bump x

You have very limited rights if under 2 years of service

@Hankunamatata yes I thought, which is why I was surprised that they offered me voluntary redundancy last year.

Sadly limited rights if under 2 years. How long you been off sick although that doesn't change the answer. Hope you find a more supportive job x

I had to get rid of someone approaching two years a while back. I believe if your contracted notice period takes you over two years you may have the rights of somone who has been there two years. Ay even be something about an extra week on top of that. I don’t know enough to advise but maybe this is something to look into.

@Londonrach1 thank you that's really kind of you to say. I've been off since the beginning of January x

Sorry OP but if you're off long-term sick I would expect you'd be in their crosshairs, no matter what anyone says about it being the role and not the person who is made redundant. Read up on the company redundancy policy.

If work is causing you enough stress and anxiety that you need to be off for months then you need to be looking for another job anyway.

If your role is at risk you should still be consulted. You may be pooled for similar roles and asked to apply.

Yes, I'm not surprised that I'm at risk and I am looking for another job but haven't been successful yet. If they offer some sort of redundancy package then that would help tide me over until I find something else but as other posters have pointed out they don't have to with less than 2 yrs service.

Were you tupe'd over during the merger? You should have continuous service

@AuntieDolly I believe so, our contracts never changed or anything like that...

It's the statutory notice period that counts towards the 2 years in this situation, not contractual ( even if OP is on more favorable contractual notice)

Source: HR person with lots of experience in this