Is this legal ?

[Diddy321]

A friend of mine has worked part time but with no permanent contract for a charity for over three years now. He is on the minimum wage. Three months ago he was given notice that the place would be closing and his job would be finishing in the early Spring.

Can anyone tell me if he would be entitled to any kind of redundancy or severance pay. The HR department say that he isn’t as he’s not on a permanent contract. However after three years, I thought he would probably have some employment rights.

This is in Scotland in case that makes any difference.

Probably not, to be honest, but his best bet is to ask Citizen's Advice.

Free, impartial and confidential advice for everyone | Citizens Advice Scotland https://share.google/BBsXfmdBL4YTgcS7B

As he's worked for over 2 years then I think he should be entitled to something
https://www.acas.org.uk/your-rights-during-redundancy/redundancy-pay

Yes, he should actually be entitled even though he is temporary as he has been there over 2 years. Automatic permanence doesn’t happen until 4 years service but employee rights kick in after 2 so he should get something. Possibly.

Yes, they will be entitled to redundancy. As someone has already advised, tell them to call ACAS.

Depends whether there is any kind of contract at all. Is it a series of temp contracts?
After 4 years of temp contracts additional rights could be due but if the employer can avoid this if continuing temp contracts can be justified.
If there is no contract at all, there may be grounds to claim redundancy via a tribunal as 'conduct' may show there was agreement in place.

Not if it was 3 x 1 year temp contracts. Contract could show that first date of employment was the 1st day of the last contract, if that makes sense. If there was continuation on the contracts, then redundancy could be due

Things that may need to be considered are that his 3 years employment will more than likely have been funded and most probably for a year each time (or 2 + 1) and also why he is being made redundant.
If it is because the charity is struggling and going under then there may not even be money to pay redundancy.

Please name the charity so people are aware they don't treat their staff well by not offering contracts and paying NMW . I wonder what the other staff higher up are paid?

if the contracts ran back to back with no break i’d suggest he could be due somethimg. if there were breaks it may be that hes due somethimg. speak to acas.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I will definitely suggest he tries ACAS.

Does he have a written contract?

Possibly, if the three years were continuous employment. Not that it would be worth very much. Not renewing a short term contract with due notice may not qualify though.

If it's closing then it's not so much the role is redundant, just that the organisation is either insolvent/in financial difficulties/ cannot afford to run this one branch. So unfortunately I don't think redundancy would be paid.

He should speak to acas though.

You'd hope they could try and transfer people into other areas? Though if they are too far away I guess it's not practical.

OP said the charity is closing down, so I don't see what the point is in naming and shaming them. It will be a difficult time already for all involved. She also said her friend didn't have a permanent contract, sadly this is common in the charity sector because funding isn't long term so they can't offer long term contracts. It's also not uncommon for workers to be paid NMW, because that's all funders account for. Much of our social care is delivered by charity workers being paid NMW and the organisations are struggling to cover their costs because the local authorities and health boards that pay for their services refuse to pay a decent rate.

OP - your friend is almost certainly entitled to some redundancy pay as long as he has worked for them for more than two years (even if not on a continuous contract). If he's aged 21-40 that will be one week's pay for each full year he's worked there capped at £719 per week. If HR are denying he is entitled to that get him to contact ACAS for advice. It may be that they are unable to pay because they have run out of money, but they should have reserves put aside for this type of situation. Employment law is the same in Scotland to the rest of the UK.

Much of the charity sector depends on government, LA or grant funding so it is not uncommon for an area or function to close down when that funding is not renewed.