Being made redundant and might have cancer

[DancingHipposOnAcid]

I’m currently at risk of redundancy and will be given notice at end of this month.

Have been offered settlement agreement giving approximately six months normal net take home pay. Was ready to accept this as six months seems reasonable time to find another job.

However, have recently had medical investigations and have been told I may have cancer and need further test in 2 weeks to get definite diagnosis. If I have cancer this would mean a serious operation and possibly chemotherapy. In that scenario it is unlikely I would be fit to look for work before the end of the six month period.

Should I delay signing until I have a diagnosis or is this unlikely to make any difference to the settlement I can expect?

I have no idea but bumping for you.
Sounds horrible, hope you're okay

You've been offered voluntary redundancy. If you don't accept, they will begin the process which may take a month, maybe more or maybe less. There's an online calculator which will tell you how much pay you're allowed per every year worked. Typically, voluntary redundancy offers are significantly higher than statutory as they're meant to be an incentive.

Oh and if you don't accept, then they withdraw the offer and just begin the redundancy consultation process.

The Settlement amount is unlikely to change, and neither is the timescales that the redundancy needs to happen.

I can understand your anxiety at the thought of having no job to go to in 6 months’ time, but at least your redundancy will ensure you have salary to cover you. Is your nett salary calculation allowing for the fact that up to £30K will be tax free? So it could stretch to more than 6 months.

I would advise you to sign to secure the deal.

I hope your

I hope your health situation gets under control very soon

It is impossible for us to tell if it is a good offer. However I would download the company employment handbook and read before deciding. In it should be what the normal weekly rate per year of service in the event of redundancy is. Also look at sickness policy in my old company employees with certain illnesses and that included cancer were given protection from redundancy in line with people on maternity leave. I think that if you do have cancer you probably need to write the next year off. Does the six months pay include the notice period (should be minimum of one week for every year served). As people have said it is tax free up to a certain amount and you will not be paying to commute.

The settlement offered includes notice pay, stat redundancy. I have worked out what is taxable and what is not to arrive at what I will have in my hand. Works out at just about six months of normal net pay but without any pension contribution or annual bonus provision.

Employer not prepared to negotiate. Had decided I would go with it until this happened. My contract provides 3 months sick at full pay and a further 3 at half pay. Of course if I am sacked I get none of this and could end up in a very bad financial position if I have cancer.

Contract and staff handbook make no reference to redundancy at all.

Of course if I am sacked I get none of this and could end up in a very bad financial position if I have cancer

You’ve lost me here, Dancing, they can’t sack you for being off sick, without potentially getting themselves into serious employment rights issues.

Do you think a call to ACAS might help you to get a complete picture about your situation? I know it must be incredibly stressful, but some independent advice is always worth taking, and ACAS is free.

None of it should be taxable. And you can't say you're being sacked if you're being made redundant. Huge difference.

I thought anything over £30,000 was taxable.

"Employer not prepared to negotiate"

Presumably if it's a redundancy situation, there's not really any need for them to negotiate? Any reason to think they couldn't lawfully make your position redundant without a settlement agreement being necessary? Why are they doing that rather than just go through a process? If we know their motivation for an agreement rather than just a normal process that might help. If it's just purely to bypass a process, then no they are not likely to be open to negotiation, and your diagnosis will not be relevant.

If the settlement agreement is because there is no genuine redundancy situation and they would have no fair reason to dismiss you, ie they need a settlement, then they might consider upping the offer.

I would suggest asking what the procedure is if nobody takes up the offer of voluntary redundancy. This may delay redundancy for a short period. Ask if there are any other departments that you can be redeployed into rather than being made redundant. If you are in UK and you have worked enough in the previous years you can apply for Job seekers allowance or universal credit. This cannot be back dated so apply the day after your redundancy. Job seekers or universal credit is only paid for 6 months I believe the job centre will confirm timescales. The first 30k is tax free. If you do become ill can you rent out a room in your home, look HMRC website for tax free allowance. Good luck 🍀