Another redundancy one..

[CalDani]

Hi! Just hoping for some advice as drawing a blank on google.
I have worked in my job for 19 years and have worked my way up to a 32 hour contract which fits around DC perfectly.

I work with 8 other people with the same job title as me but on lesser contracted hours.

My employer has told me today I'm going to be made redundant and they have selected me because of my higher contracted hours.
There has been no consultation yet.

They will then have to employ new people to do the exact same job I am doing now.

Can they do this without
-offering me a reduced contract first
Or

• putting all the other people with the exact same title through the redundancy consultation too?

Many thanks for any advice.

if they employ someone else to do the job you're doing then it's not redundancy, its dismissal. it's only redundancy if no one needs to do the job any more - and yes they should be looking at the other options you mention. however on the other hanf with 19 years service you should get a sizable severance package and clearly your employers don't like you and want you gone so have a think about whether this is a battle worth fighting. what realistic situation do you want to be the outcome here?

I agree with the previous poster, but I admit to being confused. Why does the higher number of hours matter at all? It seems rather perverse.

Hi thanks for getting back to me, sorry if It was too vague I know the company trawl through social media.

I work for a massive retail company who are restructuring, I have won recognition for the work I have done and the bosses I work with like me very much and are extremely upset about this.

They have been told to select anybody over a certain amount of hours to be made redundant because they are not having higher contracts in any of the stores anymore.

They want lots of people on small contracts.
so the core store hours are not going down so my exact job will be replaced by somebody else.

I suppose my question is, I know if the store core hours go down, then somebody gets made redundant lawfully.
But if others are being taken on to do the job I do now, can they even take the hours off me never mind make me redundant?

I think you need to speak to ACAS. If you have legal cover via home insurance they might be able to help. Are you in a union?

That's not a redundancy. It's arguably not a redundancy even if the hours are reducing, because the definition of redundancy is a ceased or diminished need for employees, not hours.

But in your case there is no reduction in anything therefore dismissing you for redundancy would be unfair dismissal, as it's not a genuine redundancy situation.

I'm amazed they would even admit to such a blatantly unlawful act, they sound clueless!

If they don't have sufficient work for you to do in the hours you are currently contracted for (but do have the work for a lesser number of hours), I question why they would get rid of you when you've received plaudits for your performance and replace you with a new person they'd have to train up. Ridiculous.

If I were you I would formalise your concerns with them that you are aware they may be making your role redundant even though they are planning to recruit people working shorter hours. Are you willing to work fewer hours?

They have been told to select anybody over a certain amount of hours to be made redundant because they are not having higher contracts in any of the stores anymore.

Will they put that in writing?

In retail there's often a cultural divide between stores and head office, I appreciate that the managers will likely be doing what their superiors are telling them. I would expect when the consultation starts the official line will be different. As pp said, 19 years redundancy pay is not to be sniffed it, it may be better than reduced hours. You need to weigh that up.