Redundancy

[Snowfalls108]

Hi there,
Does anyone have any advice?
I'm currently on maternity leave after baby number 2. Before I went on maternity leave I was working part time. I lived just around the corner from the office.
A couple of weeks ago someone from the office called me with a question about a client and during this call they mentioned that another member of the team (totalling 4 people) had been made redundant. I sent that person an email saying I was sorry to hear this and to let me know if she needed a reference. She replied saying it was all ok and she was actually quite pleased as they were moving the office down to head office. She also said it was probably best I didn't say I knew this as it was hush hush.
Anyway another previous colleague sent me an email saying had I heard the office was moving, and it was moving this week!
So I haven't had anyone contact me to tell me this. My ordinary maternity leave lasts until January.
I'm not sure if I want to go back to work or not. But the office moving makes it pretty impossible - its gone from being a 5 minute walk to being over an hour drive.
What are my rights in this situation? Does anyone have any advice on how I should handle it?
Thank you.

Is the office moving / closing, have you officially confirmed this with management?

If it is moving then I expect you'll be made redundant and will get what ever pay package is either in your contract or the stat minimum. They would be allowed to ask you to move to a hour commute from 5 mins. If you're made redundant part way through your AML you'll lose anything over SMP you get unless you manage to negotiate that as part of your redundancy package but there isn't any automatic right to mat benefits other than SMP if you're redundant.

But first things first get some clarity on what is happening and ask why you haven't been consulted.

I think the way to handle this is to speak to your manager and ask what the facts are with regard to this. If te office us moving, the company should have contacted you to inform you just like they would have informed others.

They would be within their rights to move your job unless your contract states otherwise - dies your contract state where you'll be based?

It would be hard to argue that an hours drive was excessive (as awkward as it might be).

I agree your first step is to ring your manager and ask what's going on.