URGENT - Sorry for the capitals - I need some urgent employment advice please - any solicitors advice partic welcome as i am a solicitor

[lisalisa]

hello eveyrone. sorry again for capitals in the title to the thread.

I need some urgent advice please on redundancy/employment/ stratedgy really.

I am a commercial prpoerty solicitor practicing in a small firm just outside london. I am/was on a very generous package of shorter than usual hours and west end type salary.
my firm ( but not me) dealt wiht many of the big home lenders who have ceased business. thus two thirds of hte firm have been made redundant in recent months.

this morning I was placed at risk of redundancy and asked to take a 50% salary drop to avoid this. All delivered wiht grace and humility by the partners who find all this very difficult. they talked about me being future of firm and recognise my hard work ( I am a rainmaker and have continued tyring to make it rain during bad times - plenty of contacts/promises but nothning certian at th emomemtn)and want to keep me but can't afford it. all this I belive to be 100% true.

My dilemma is this:

1 Whether to accept this 50% drop in salary which would be very hard for us but potentially doable in the short term. Long term we would be in financial trouble but long term hopefully markets would pick up and firm said as and when that happened all could be reviewed ( they did not however say that when all picks up etc my salary would go back to normal though).

2 Whetehr to look elsewhere now. I have a 2 week consultation period after which I would be made redundant . At that point i would be asked to leave and given one month's pay ( my notice preiod pay) . So I have a further 2 weeks wiht my feet behind my desk so tp speak after which I would have nothing ( if I didn't find another job). This is importatn to me as I have several active clients and lots of potentials that I keep in contaact wiht and couldn't really be out of work for more than a week or so without risk of losing htem and all my hard work.

3 Whether to accept what they are offering and then look around for a better paid job. What also concerns me is long term security as they have indicated that even if I accept this they can't promise secirty and redundnacy may rear its head again in another month or two.

Please help me ttry to make a decision. ............

Thanks - so nice of you to respond.

What does anyone else think would be a sensible commission level as I need to come back on that at the meeting tomorrow?

How long have you worked there? You should get redundancy pay plus notice pay of a week per completed year of service.

Could you set up on your own?

I agree that if part of their offer is to re-instate your full salary at some point there should be a definition in the written agreement of what that point is. I am fairly sure that in our industry a reduction in salary is defined as permanent in these circumstances and that any future uplift is seen as a payrise rather than a re-instatement of any past remuneration.

I suspect you will find that any letter varying your T&C will have no comment on future increases and therefore you will have no guarantee of ever reaching that pay rate again.

In your situation I would definately take the cut and look about. Particularly if you have to find PT hours without re-locating.

Not sure if this is much help but here are some possible thoughts:

1. Ask them to confirm that in the event you take their offer and they subsequently make you redundant anyway, the notice pay will be calculated as if you were still working f/t.

1. If you are a rainmaker, then ask about becoming a partner either straight away (but risky if firm is about to go under) or in a year's time if certain targets are met, eg you bring in £X amount of work or £y% of the property's dept's turnover. Alternatively may be worth proposing commission deal, either on anything you bring in or on a % of anything you bill over the level of your pay and contribution to overheads.

1. If you have been there for less than 2 years you are not entitled to a redundancy payment, only your notice period so you need to bear that in mind when negotiating.

1. How are other people being treated at the firm? Can you argue that you are being discriminated against? May not be a route you want to go down but something to consider if you are the only person being offered this choice and other male colleagues not being given the same dilemma.

Sorry for the length of this, hope it is of some help.

Lisa - hope this is not too late. 10% of all billings would be very good for you.

At an American firm I was at previously they had of counsel on this as his pay. He had a good year and made so much money they could not afford to continue and had to make him an equity partner.

We take on lateral hire partners and they sometimes get 10% of work they introduce over a certain sum if we are not convinced by the level of following claimed.

How about working it out like turnover rent? So work out what you were paid last year and what you billed. I know this is tricky because it has been a poor market & you have only just got there. Then the miserable offer you have is your base pay, say 50% of current pay. If your billings stay constant, what percentage of billings do you need as commission to keep your total pay constant?