Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Being made redundant

2 replies

Nanglo789 · 02/10/2017 14:00

Hi,

I am seeking some advice. I was told a while ago that my job is at risk and i will be made redundant, after that i've had one meeting as part of the consultancy process. they haven't given me notice to confirm end of my job.

Today i found out that someone else within the company is doing my work, it will eventually phase but it hasn't yet.

IS this fair? how do i handle this, I don't want to say to much as I don't want to lose my redundancy pay, are they trying to make me leave my job so that they don't have to pay me?

OP posts:
1justabloke · 02/10/2017 19:46

There is quite a lot of information in your message: Don't want to step on flowerybeanbag's toes because she does such an excellent job but here is my response

I was told a while ago that my job is at risk - 'warning' of the risk of redundancy is part of a fair process. if you have two years' service you can claim unfair dismissal and if the dismissal is unfair and you suffer loss be awarded compensation. Plus there are about 21 reasons for dismissal that mean you can claim unfair dismissal in the first two years. Look up 'automatically unfair dismissals' for this. Plus you don't need any length of service to claim illegal discrimination.

"and i will be made redundant, after that I've had one meeting as part of the consultancy process" - if this is what was said then it definitely points to unfairness - i.e. they have said you WILL be made redundant not that you might be subject to consultation etc.

re they haven't given me notice to confirm end of my job.- that comes at the end of a redundancy process.

"Today i found out that someone else within the company is doing my work, it will eventually phase but it hasn't yet."

re the above - this is the most important part of your message. Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissing someone. It requires there to be a redundancy situation. That exists when the company genuinely needs fewer employees of a particular type. That comes about in one of two ways - either we have less work therefore need fewer employees or we are organizing ourselves in a different way so as to require fewer employees. section 139 Employment Rights Act 1996 is the relevant section. The point about your comment is that 'someone else doing your work' could suggest that there is no redundancy situation. It might be that the company has prejudged the situation in that it has already assigned your work to that other person and is just going through the motions of pretending to consult with you.

Re "IS this fair?" -potentially no.

"how do i handle this, I don't want to say to much as I don't want to lose my redundancy pay",
Re the above. What is the redundancy pay - it is either the statutory amount based on gross weekly wage with a max of £489 per week or it is the company enhanced amount of more than the statutory redundancy amount. If it is just the statutory then saying something will not risk that amount as it is yours as of right. Plus if the company is paying enhanced redundancy it would be very rare for HR to remove the right to it just because you challenged your redundancy. I can't advise whether you have a contractual right to an enhanced redundancy payment without more details but check your contract, handbook, speak to the union if there is one, ask colleagues.

Re are they trying to make me leave my job so that they don't have to pay me?
doesn't sound like it to me. Whatever you do don't leave your job. It sounds more like a badly handled insensitive redundancy situation.

remember - notice holiday pay and Statutory Redundancy Pay (if greater than 2 years' service) are yours as of right
Money paid in excess of this can be subject to a settlement agreement.

more advice - don't tip the company off too early about your concerns about someone else doing your job. Quietly gather evidence of this in the form of emails, structure charts, notes of meetings, etc. The reason for this advice is if you tip the company off too early it is likely to 'retrench' /pretend that 'no it hasn't assigned your work' and thereby defeat any claim you might have for unfair dismissal. If I knew more I might be likely to advise you to keep quiet for a while, gather your information and wait until the company has committed on paper that your work, for example, is coming to an end, and then hit them with your knowledge that it is not but that someone else is doing it.

good luck and best wishes

Nanglo789 · 03/10/2017 11:18

Thank you so much for your detailed message.

I definitely know that there is case of redundancy as business is down, I am actually surprised it took them this long to make a decision.

They had communicated to us that once the current work is closed & they know the timeline, they will give us formal notice. So we were supposed to closing down the on going work - but this is being done by someone else within the company. This is now more like constructive dismissal, to make someone else do my work while I am still employed there.

As you said I will wait and watch, I have been told there will be an update next week, which will probably mean me getting the notice to end my employment, if that is the case it will still not be fair as someone else will be doing my job for next 2/3 month.

We only get Statutory Redundancy Pay, the enhanced pay isn't for us unfortunately.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page