Crap!!!!!! OH just found out being made redundant after xmas :(

[FloJo151]

what a lovely xmas present his work have given us!! Oh has just found out that the whole department is closing and they are all beingmade redundant by the end of 2013.

Im due to start maternity leave in jan:( I only get a little bit of smp.

never been in this position before so am trying to get some advice on what we are entitled to claim.
Does anyone know if he just goes and signs on after the redundancy? How does it all work?

anyone been in a similar position and got any advice?

how long has he worked there?

I can't help you with claims and things unfortunately but I got made redundant recently and it feels horrible,

Has he been there long? Are they doing any kind of enhanced package? Is there any way you can delay starting maternity leave?

There's no point worrying about it now. I know that it's hard, but try not to stress xxx

urghh never good taime for that news but pre xmas and with you about to go on mat leave must be the worst :(

If you tell us if you have any other children, whether you are renting or buying, and how long he has been at the firm we can give better pointers on the benefits front.

If you are starting maternity leave quite early, it might be better to ask your employer if you could wait another month.

hi, we have 2 ds's already (school age)
he's worked there 11 years,
we have recently moved house! (mortgage).
cant really change mat leave as due in feb and am working up to 4 wks before due date which is pushing it anyway as I have spd and am finding it hard going in work already (I work in a preschool).

not sure about packages or anything yet. its all a bit of a shock really. he knew something was up as there was a bit of reshuffling going on but I think they all just thought there were going to be a handful of redundencies not the whole department!

we're both trying to be positive about it as we know there are so many others out there in a worst off position, just mighty bad timing!

Not good news for you. Sorry.

He should get contribution-based JSA at least. You probably won't get any help with your mortgage for a bit and you might get some Council Tax help but will depend on savings.
You could take a look at this benefits calculator. It should give you a rough idea.
Your husband needs to make a claim for JSA on the first day he is unemployed (this is important for NI contributions, plus it takes a while to come through). You can do it online or over the phone.
If it turns out you qualify for any council-awarded benefits, I recommend you claim for those yourself (DON'T expect the DWP to do this - they won't). You'll almost certainly need a JSA award letter from DWP to do this (but put in for it anyway), plus bank and savings statements.

Good luck and I'm sure he'll get something else soon.

Any tax credits you can claim for will depend what you have jointly earned already this tax year so from April 2013-2014. The cut off for 2 children is around £32k so if between you you have already earnt this you may not be able to get anything until the start of the next tax year . Hopefully by then he will have secured another job.

oh blimey you poor thing! what a shock :(
and what timing!

is he likely to be able to get another similar job? I guess he should focus right now on job searching, but agree with other posters that he ought to be entitled to JSA.

You might also want to contact your mortgage company and explain the situation as soon as you can, it might be possible to take a break for a month or 2 or pay interest only (say feb/march) just to give you a bit more leeway money-wise

I have heard that tax credits can take the current income into account if you are desperate, rather than last years. Anyone else know about that???

Huge sympathies.

Does he have any union, or professional body that can advise on a redundancy settlement?

If you think he is entitled to more than he is offered as redundancy pay, you may be able to see legal help through your home contents insurance if you have ticked the box for legal expenses - ring them and ask. They may have a legal helpline, anyway.

He will be entitled to pay for any hol he is owed, too.

Will he be offered any support to seek new jobs? Some employers arrange this as part of the redundancy package.

Get him e baying on his first day of no paid work!

I have heard that too - if it is a major change in circumstances they do have some lee-way so it's worth calling them x

Speak to CAB, or at least look at their website, about the redundancy package. When dh was made redundant he was given 4 weeks notice as per contract and redundancy pay but a quick search showed he should have been getting 1 weeks notice per year of employment. He mentioned it to HR who went away to investigate and came back saying he was owed another 4 weeks.

Sorry to hear he's being made redundant. You need to get over the shock and then sit down this weekend and make your plans.

From his work he should get:

• redundancy pay - this describes how the statutory minimum is calculated www.findlaw.co.uk/law/employment/redundancy_rights/8408.html but he may be offered more
• holiday pay for any untaken holidays
• Pay in Lieu of Notice - he should get at least 11 weeks notice see www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4096

He will be entitled to JSA (contributions based) no matter level of redundancy payments and other savings you have.

These payments should enable you to carry on paying the mortgage for quite a while. Ultimately he will be entitled to help with the mortgage payments as described here www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/eligibility

(I don't make any money from any of the links in my posts)

I'm in a similar situation having just been made redundant earlier this month. But luckily I'm not pregnant or on maternity leave. (We were TTC and I had sleepless nights I'd be pregnant this cycle, but I didn't).

What is his redundancy package like? How long will it cover you for?

I was put on garden leave from the day I got the news. I'm still 'working' until beginning of december. And then I'm getting a 'pay in lieu of notice'. (Which i don't understand because I thought the garden leave would work as notice. But I won't say no to extra money).

So it might be that your husband would still have salary coming in for two months after Jan?

We were also given access to a career coach. I'm having my session this afternoon. It's supposed to help with CV, interviews, etc.

Don't panic until you see the final redundancy package. Also Jan is a better time than mine as I believe companies are less likely to recruit just before xmas. (I might be wrong).

FWIW, I've found a new position already with better pay. (I've accepted the verbal offer and haven't seen the paper work so it might still fall through). I'll be starting the week after I finish my garden leave. So it might just be the start of something different.

And yes to contribution JSA. I looked into it and I was going to sign on after I finish my garden leave. I think I'm officially still employed until then. He'll get 6 months of contribution JSA, which is not affected by savings or your income. (though yours would be low given you are on maternity).

Hi.

Sympathy - my dh was made redundant in 2011 - it was a really stressful time.

However, for us it was actually financially lucrative as dh got anothER job quicker than his PILON (his was a job where he went for his normal Monday meeting at 10am and had been escorted out of the building by 10:55am never to return) so we were able to use the difference plus his redundancy money to pay off a chunk of mortgage.

As someone mentioned above he should get a minimum of 11 weeks pay redundancy and 11 weeks notice (as there is less than 11 weeks to Xmas they should give him the difference in money) plus any unused holiday.

Also you don't pay tax on redundancy money (up to £30k) and sometimes not on PILoN so the money will go further than you think.

11 + 11 = 22. Add in the advantageous tax situation and you are covered for about six months from now at least - so until May time. He just needs to get a job by then. Get him to start doing his CV ASAP and then start applying now.

One other thing - it is likely to affect him emotionally quite a lot (at least it did my dh - made him feel very useless.) So try and be aware.

Ps - this is a government site - probably worth printing some of this out so he can shove it under their noses if they don't offer what he is entitled to.

www.gov.uk/redundant-your-rights/being-selected-for-redundancy