Anyone know about employment law?

[Middlechild3]

Just wanted to know if anyone can advise on my rights in a possible scenario.
I applied for and was accepted for voluntary Redundancy. I asked for PILON as I just wanted to go straight away. Due to incompetence of HR being able to answer straightforward questions the initial date I suggested had to be quashed as HR were either on leave or didn't know the answers/didn't read my questions properly. The pool I'm in needed to lose 2 headcount. I was the only one who applied for and was accepted for VR. The pool is still at risk as they are awaiting the results of 3 staff applying for ring fenced internal vacancies. I am concerned if 2 or more staff are successful in getting new roles that will be 2 headcount down and they may try to cancel my VR. Can they do this? Serious incompetence and delay by HR has meant there is still no leaving date agreed. I was told to use my leave up or lose it which I have. I've also paid nearly £2000 for financial advice regarding the VR package. I've copied all comms strings and emails to my private email/laptop. I've noticed the email stating they have accepted my application for VR appears to no longer exist. I certainly haven't deleted it. Any advice appreciated tia.

Forgot to add I've spent considerable time applying for jobs and the first interview is next week.

I think it isn't incompetence, but strategic to allow themselves wriggle room.

No it's HR incompetence, if you had seen the comms trail. But my question was asking about my legal position if they did this not thoughts on the why. I've just heard back from another employee whose role has completely gone and they have no real information either, no agreed leaving date etc which slightly reassures me.

You’ve paid £2000 for financial advice? For what ? Must be some redundancy package 😳

Also you’re not automatically entitled to PILON , they can of course make you work your notice in full , but guess you already know this .
I think you’ve jumped the gun applying for and attempting to be interviewed for next jobs without a firm leaving date

The key thing that isn't clear from your post is whether you have or haven't been issued with a notice of redundancy yet? If so then it will be quite difficult for them to unilaterally withdraw it. If not you're going to be in a stickier position because why would they pay you redundancy if you're not actually redundant, although it will depend on the exact terms of the VR agreement, these are not something laid down in law so it's a matter of contract. You may need legal advice, are you in a union or do you have legal cover on your home insurance? Or call ACAS?

Try ACAS for free legal advice

I have been made Redundant and I was under the impression that nothing is legally binding until you are served with a date ,which it sounds like you haven’t ,
I was told that I would be leaving in 3 months time on X date , I worked those 3 months and also got 3 months pilon , 26 week notice period .

https://www.acas.org.uk/advice

Yes I'm fully aware of PILON not being a given, my notice period, yes an excellent package thanks hence FA advice to use it efficiently .I mention the job apps and interview to indicate time/effort spent start date if successful would be well beyond 3 months notice. I take it you have no legal knowledge to offer constructive comment on my original post.

My scenario isn't on the ACAS website

No I haven't that's the problem I'm concerned about. If I have they,'d find it hard to back out legally. My question wad my legal position if they tried to quash my VR , do I have one? I have just had a call from my manager and it's chaos with all people involved in Compulsory or VR apparently. We are meeting again on Monday to finalise a date and get it in writing. Thanks for helpful comments all.

You can call ACAS and talk to an Adviser. The employer should also pay for legal advice in terms of any settlement agreement but not for financial advice for what you could do with any payments.

I knew as soon as reading this you were going to answer like that , ie rude when you’re told that actually in this scenario you’re incorrect and have as I said initially jumped the gun 🙄 .Things haven’t gone your way , they might still but your employer doesn’t have to bow down to your demands or timelines . You’ve spent money chasing money that you haven’t even got or even been promised officially .
Youve applied for VR & been accepted but no date = no contract , and yes that’s official and legal in my experience .
If you read my final comment , you’ll see that I too have been made redundant and got PILON also so have been through it fairly recently and was happy to share my experience and timeline.

What do you mean you were “accepted” for VR? That will determine the legal status of it.

Your line manager saying “yeah sure” is very different to having received a notice of redundancy.

You jumped straight on my post with snarky comment. I'm fully informed on most of my situation that's not what I asked. I had a very specific situation which I've deliberately posted on the legal board to ask for legal views on. Most people have been helpful but not you. Sorry if you want a spat you need to go elsewhere, I'm out. Have a nice day.

I had a meeting to say my application had been accepted then followed up by an email. But from what I gather 'notice of redundancy' is only when end of employment dates are finalised....and confirmed in writing?

I wasn’t snarky at all, perhaps that £2k would have been better spent on legal advice rather than financial , but you have a great day too , and I wish you luck !

Why on earth have you spent £2k in legal fees? With voluntary redundancy they put together a package and you either accept it, or you don't. It has to adhere to the statutory minimum.

But you are correct in that the notice of redundancy can be withdrawn if there is no longer a redundancy situation.

I would advise you to contact ACAS. Their advice is free.

I haven't paid for legal advice. It's for a financial advice on how best to use my redundancy' package. For clarification It's actually for a complete financial review, I'm pretty good with money but not so knowledgeable about tax/pensions. The FA is paying for themselves several times over in what I'll save in tax. (Using unused portions of tax free pension allowance from last 3 years in case anyone wants to know).

Well I’m sorry but you choosing to pay for such advice is nothing to do with your employer. (my FA charges no where near that )

Any comment on my legal position?

I already did upthread.

They can withdraw the offer of VA if they deem that redundancy situation no longer exists.

It all depends on if they’ve given you notice of redundancy, which I’d expect to include a leaving date. It doesn’t sound like you’ve had this but it’s hard to tell based on just your VR being accepted.

You say this email no longer exists - do you have any reason to believe your employer is accessing and deleting your emails? It seems a very strange thing to do.

As others have said, give ACAS a ring if you don’t want to give all the specifics here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to find away to avoid making you redundant if your redundancy pay would be high enough to justify £2k worth of legal advice!