Redundant but having to work notice

[AnnaQuayRules]

Has anyone else been in this situation? We've gone through a restructure at work and as a result I am being made redundant.

I have a 3 month notice period and have been told I need to work this - but my job will no longer exist so I have no idea what I'm actually going to be doing for 12 weeks. Or who is going to be line managing me.

Management are refusing to budge. I'm feeling stressed about the whole situation, not just about being made redundant but also about having to work for 3 months alongside colleagues who have secured posts in the new structure. Has anyone successfully challenged this and been allowed "gardening leave" or similar?

It can be a bit soul destroying but try and see the bright side that you are effectively being paid without much being expected of you . Like a pp said you are entitled to time off to job hunt and attend interviews so make the most of it and do a lot of that lol. I remember when it happened to me I was much younger and way too conscientious so while I sat at work with nothing to do during a May sweltering heatwave my colleagues with more neck than I had at that time were all gone to the seaside for the day making excuses of job hunting and doctors appointments. I do remember it was a very very unsettling time so I do empathise OP.

If they don't provide work this is what I'd do. Plus any useful online training they provide.

They have to give you reasonable time off to seek alternative work ... tgars the law.

This is surely the tme for quiet quitting. Dont do more than you absolutely have to.

sit with your feet up watching netflix, or spend time applying for new jobs.

Your are entitle to reasonable time off for interviews.
Do the bare min, make your time work for you.
Block time out of your day to do job hunting, do as many courses as possible.
It is a stressful time, but you are wfh, make sure you take your lunch and go for a walk at lunchtime.

I had to go back for 2 months to work my notice after maternity leave. I didn’t have a job to do, no desk, so basically I just sat where I could and helped out. It was towards the end of the year, so I had accumulated holiday, so I had a day off each week. The final hurtful thing was invites were given out to the Christmas Party and I wasn’t invited. 2 months after leaving they asked to me if I could come in to help as a member of staff had been in a car accident, I did, but on my terms and I ended up covering for a lot of people for 6 months. Gardening leave wasn’t a thing back then.

This happened to me...I also had no work to do but still had to go into the office. I used the time to do some training, search for jobs, brush up my cv and also taught myself how to touch type. It was still v boring and dispiriting.

My husband was in your situation when he was made redundant from one of the major banks. After a week of having nothing to do he went into his bosses office and said enough's enough, I've spent 37 hours now twiddling my thumbs, I'm going home. They said ok. 0

Same, I did as little as possible, took a week off sick at the midway point. Just put up and shut up or they will let you go early on mutual consent and stop paying you.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback and advice.

It's public sector, and they are very clear that there will be no PILON or gardening leave. I've been there for 13 years in different roles.

If it is public sector, I wonder if contacting a sympathetic councillor or MP would be an option? It could be argued that not giving you a line manager and/or work to do is wasting public money. Also not officially giving you time off to look for alternative employment increases the time you could be claiming benefits, though I hope you find a job to go to.

Are you getting out of public sector work or looking for other roles within it? It can be hard to transition from public sector to private sector work though not impossible.

Will you get a redundancy payout?

As others have said, you can take reasonable time off for jub hunting but the most they have to pay you for is 2 days so the rest of the time could be unpaid. They also have the right to insist that you use annual leave before you leave.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain yes I'm getting redundancy pay.

I appreciate that it can be difficult to transition from public sector to private. And I'm not sure id want to - I'm more likely to work in the not-for-profit sector. Although jobs are being cut there.

@BakedAl I've used up all my AL for this year. New AL year starts on 01 April.

If you are working from home I would use the time to job hunt and do interviews

Write handover notes if you have to provide them and mentally check out.

I was meaning if she did have leave left, it might mean she doesn't need to stay there as long. Obviously taking the money is an option too.
Edited as saw that the OP has no A/L left.

Log on. Watch films and read books, cook, do the washing.

Do the work they ask you to do

I was lucky as my employer had an outplacement scheme which involved lots of career support training.

Check if yours offers the same. If not, keep your head down, do what they ask and use the rest of the time to decide what you want to do next, polish your CV and LinkedIn and apply for jobs (and/or research self employment).

I found the local careers service was quite helpful too - it's not just for school leavers.

they have to allow you paid time off for interviews / training this is not annual leave
this is normally limited to 40% of a weeks pay ie 2 paid days or 4 half days etc, They can insisit you take any annual leave owing during this time ( not the case with OP) if they do not allow it etc then it has to be paid as extra days

I was lucky as my employer had an outplacement scheme which involved lots of career support training

Yes, worth asking about OP, but generally they'd mention it when making you redundant. My company offered this too, but I found the woman so condescending. I'd been at my company 8yrs and she couldn't fathom that I didn't know all the features of linkedin to look for new roles, nor understand why I hadn't updated my CV in the last year- umm, well I had no idea I'd be made redundant and had been very happy in my job.

Are you NHS OP? I work for an ICB and we are facing up to 50% redundancies.

Well, if you WFH, don't have a line manager and your job no longer exists I'd be available via your usual communication channels, but essentially treat it as garden leave. I very much doubt anyone is going to be actively giving you work, or notice if you don't go in.

Make yourself a pain in the arse, do as little work as possible and they will be begging for you to leave. Or tell them you are trying to get a job with a competitor (if applicable) an ex colleague of mine did this and she was promptly put on gardening leave. alternatively, go off sick with stress.