Being made redundant- not sure it's genuine

[Groupofone]

In a Teams meeting on Friday with my boss I was told that I was at risk of redundancy.

I'm the only person with my job title and was told I was in a unique role and therefore in a group of one.

I was assured it was nothing to do with my performance and was due to EBITDA being lower than target and a need to cut cost.

I have worked there for three and a half years. I came off the call to a WhatsApp from a colleague who reports to me and performs a similar role to say he had been "let go". He is based in a different country and is on a different contract type to me which means that he wouldn't be governed by UK employment law.

Although I have a different job title I have similar skills to others in my team who report to me and perform similar tasks.

This doesn't feel like a genuine redundancy to me. I think they want rid of me but can't sack me because in the words of my boss my performance has been "immaculate".

I've no doubt they could make something up to get me out but think this is the easiest way. They ousted my previous boss which led to a long dirty fight which has just ended in a settlement. Previous boss brought me into the business and I assume my loyalty is believed to lie with him, even though I have remained impartial and professional throughout.

I'm a single parent with a mortgage and at 55 am terrified of not being able to get another job.

I know there's no way to keep my job but how cAn I leverage the fact that I think this is actually an unfair dismissal into forcing them to give me a good settlement which will give me some breathing space to look for work?

The process has to be meaningful and so far it hasn't been as they haven't helped you to mitigate it the exit.

Have they spoken of the package being stat or enhanced ? Part of the consultation should be understanding of their terms. Other things to ask for would be ensuring you get pay in lieu of notice (if applicable) and outplacement support would be a reasonable request.

Having managed a few redundancy programs i do have some knowledge in this sphere. I do completely agree with you there is an issue here, and it’s one of confidentiality.

personally I’d be asking at rhe meeting why do people know and what other roles are they considering you for. They need to avoid redundancy if possible. However if it’s take a step down to a more junior role there is often strong arguments why a manager cannot be demoted to part of the team they used ti manage.

Also I should have said in my previous comment, do you think your age could be a contributing factor as you mentioned that you are 55? is there a marked difference in the age of the people in your team/doing similar roles and yourself?

Hi OP, I saw similar at my last work place if your role is being made redundant then you should be able to apply for any other positions that are vacant if there is a re-structure.

Also as an aside I'd start looking elsewhere too and not get too hung up on slogging it out with them but that isn't easy when you feel like they have pulled the rug from under you.

Is your role a much higher paid one hence this role going?

At my last place they took out the top 2 salaries as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Have your union been able to help any?

Hi @ilovebrie8 the union has been great. I'm accepting a settlement agreement which has been upped to a reasonable amount. Had my legal advice yesterday (also via the union who will invoice my employer) and have submitted the edit requests.

I've been networking a lot rather than applying for jobs and have a couple of irons in the fire now. Interestingly met with an ex colleague yesterday who has been talking with recruiters about what the LinkedIn algorithms look for in CVs and he's getting real traction now. I'm going to completely re-do my CV. It basically has to just keep reiterating key words and skills.

@Startingagainandagain yes myself and another colleague who is being made redundant are both in our 50's whereas most of the organisation apart from the SMT are late 20's early 30's.

I think it's age, cost, and a new direction.

Sounds like you're resigned to leave but it comes across as discriminatory based on age.

It isn't acceptable to make someone redundant on the basis of age. That's unlawful.

But if you want to go and don't think it's worth hanging on and going through a grievance process, then take the money and run.

contact acas if your role is being readvertised but under a different title but with same skills. your employer by redudancy law must try and find you a suitable alternative role if you think somthing is underhand you can challenge their redundancy and involve acas and start a process early consiliation where acas mediate if this doesnt work you can take them to a tribunal really depends on whats happening to your role and if it really has been made redundant

Sorry to hear this. I had similar, they've moved my job very north where they can get it done very cheaply. I was very upset how I was treated.

@daisychain01 yes I have taken the money. It's galling though as the settlement is effectively a gagging order. My colleague who was also made redundant has also settled and a few days ago I saw his exact role, same job title being advertised on LinkedIn. The absolute brass neck of them!

@Oblomov23 yes it's been very hard - terrifying in fact, especially as I am a single parent and everything rests on my shoulders. I have treated finding a new job as my full time job and am happy to report that I received a job offer for something that I think is going to be amazing for me. So now I have a chunk of cash, two months off on full pay, a new job and am away from that horrible bunch.

I'm keenly aware it could have been different though and reading the recent benefit threads has filled me with horror at how people are being treated.

@Groupofone you have been pragmatic and obtained the best deal for the least stress in the circumstances. They are clearly a poor employer but you are out of there now.

So pleased you have a new job but also some time to recuperate. The time will go quickly so make sure you treat yourself.

@Sisterpita thank you that's very kind.

Great to hear that you have a new job OP! …onwards and upwards

Thank you @ilovebrie8

Is that you OP? I thought you were @Groupofone ?

Hi @ilovebrie8 yes I name changed, sorry proper nc fail there but yes it's me.
If you're still looking a couple of things that helped for me was I used a free app called Teal to track all my applications, I was advised by a badass friend of mine to always call the agencies a few hours after applying as stuff gets buried and I used Chatgpt to derive competency based questions from the job descriptions so that I could prepare scenario based answers. Crashed and burned in a civil service interview so it's not fail safe but it did help.

Good news you have something new! I have started a role recently too …

That's amazing 🤩 congratulations! It's funny though, everyone says "oh I knew you'd get something" but it genuinely doesn't help and you don't necessarily think it is going to work out.