Negotiating redundancy pay - help advice needed!!!!

[Jenninlw]

Hi I really need someone's help. Has anyone on here negotiated redundancy pay while being made redundant when pregnant. I'm one of two people who have been selected for redundancy because our roles no longer exist in a new structure. I am 18 weeks pregnant. I haven't been offered anything suitably alternative. I have been offered an enhanced redundancy payout if I go voluntarily rather than being actually made redundant. I work at a large university and am basically being managed out by new management who have for no reason taken a dislike to me (I have a perfect performance/sick record etc after 10 years service) - not sure if pregnancy had anything to do with it but doubt it has helped.

I feel I could probably negotiate a better pay out than the enhanced as I'm going to miss out on a really good enhanced mat leave.

Had anyone any experience they can share with me on what i could realistically ask for? Please?

I'm not sure I follow. Do you feel it is not a genuine redundancy situation?

I feel I have been selected unfairly and want to negotiate on that basis

Did they have proper selection criteria and consult appropriately?

I'm asking because how good your negotiating position is depends almost entirely on whether or not they are vulnerable legally.

There was no selection criteria except that we are the only two people in the team that still have perm contracts all others are agency staff - the reason for redundancy is the role is disappearing due to restructure and we don't fit into new roles in the structure. I can apply for the new role but it us 3 grades higher than I am now and my boss has already started going out to agency to fill the role before I've even gone or had the job description! HR have stopped her for now as she isn't following university HR processes doing that however she's made it clear I am not in the running.

Also I don't know if this makes a difference but I was acting up until my manager got there and when she found out I was pregnant she basically told me to step down as I wasn't performing up to standard

Are you in a union? Might be worth getting some advice about whether your employer has acted wrongly (sounds like they have). If you can show you've been treated unfairly, it should help your negotiating position as they'll want to avoid being taken to tribunal. If you're not in a union, see if you can get some legal advice or call the equality advisory and support service on 0808 800 0082. They should help you understand things.

The alternative is whether you want to negotiate to keep your job!

Just marking place as I was in an
almost identical situation a few years ago. I'll write more later / tomorrow.

Ok so if both roles have been completely eliminated and you are both redundant it's not a selection situation as such, so not a case of being unfairly selected. It would be about whether it is a genuine redundancy situation. In terms of the more senior role 3 grades higher, you are obviously entitled to apply but that sounds like quite a big step.

To negotiate more than you've been offered they need to have a reason to pay you more, and pointing out legal vulnerabilities is the best way to do that. If they have no vulnerability legally the only incentive for them to pay more than they have to is the goodness of their heart or guilt.

With the enhanced payout, will it be a settlement agreement? In which case your employer will need to pay for you to take legal advice which will give you the opportunity to get a proper opinion on whether you have any kind of legal case and whether a higher payout can be negotiated.

How do the roles of the agency staff compare to the roles that are being made redundant? Are any of the roles filled by agency staff being eliminated? How are the tasks that you're currently performing going to be done after your role is eliminated?

I believe there are legal vulnerabilities in that I am currently in consultation but have not yet seen the new structure or any job descriptions that are in that new structure. I've been told the agency staff will be let go when I go - one is the same grade as me. Apparently the work I do is going to be taken on by the new higher grade role and the team that that person will manage but they couldn't tell me what kind of roles will be in that team.

Since the meeting it is basically as I've already gone - I am being ignored and given no work to do.

I'm being told that additional agency/consultants are being brought in to carry out senior marketing projects much higher in responsibility than I can do which is bull because they are projects I have managed year in year and well within my capabilities. I believe by paying them more it makes it look like the projects are more difficult than they actually are and I am therefore not given them.

Flowery. Enhanced payout is settlement agreement. I haven't told them which way I'm going yet eg voluntary or statutory so they haven't given me any details of a solicitor. However I've heard the solicitor just makes sure the agreement is legal rather than giving advice.

You will need to find a solicitor-they then pay the bill. The solicitor will ask you about the circumstances and advise you about the implications of signing the agreement, which includes advising you what potential claims you might have.