Redundancy while on AML (a bit long - sorry!)

[Chocolatedays]

Looks likes it is may happen to me so if anyone has any knowledge / experience I need some help!

OK here are some details:

My AML ends on 4th July. I have been into the office and said I plan to return and we verbally agreed I'd start back on 4th July and immediately take the accrued leave so my first day in the office would be 22nd July. I have not yet officially emailed this to confirm.

On Thurs I had a call from the HR manager saying they are having to review headcount and were starting the consultation period - they had notified the other employees of this at a recent meeting. The HR mngr emailed me follwing the tel call. The email said they would reduce headcount through redundancy before July.

I work for a fairly small agency and so only stat redundancy is on offer and I have a 3 month notice period in my contract. I will have worked for them for 2 yrs on 15th May (just over one year working and the rest on SML & AML)

Here are my Qs:
I think (though am not sure) I would normally be entitled to 2 weeks at £350 (the max stat redundancy pay) PLUS 3 months notice (which I may have either have had to work or may have been be offered it as a lump sum).
If (which seems likely) I am still on AML while being made redundant BUT was going to return during the notice period what money am I entitled to?

Also - what is the earliest they are allowed to make me redundant following the call on Thurs?

Might it be worth giving notice to go back earlier than July?

Sorry this is long but I think for anyone to help then some of the detail is needed.

Thanks in advance for any pointers

Love the singing!

The embryologists I met seemed very sincere and also driven to get their success rates as high as poss - so if they are very up for blasts now (whereas they weren't 18mnths ago) I suspect it is because they are getting good results from it rather than a £££ thing.

Keep willing those little ones to divide - I'm thinking of them too!

All sounding good - how many are they likely to put back?

Hi Gilly
I think what you are going through is pretty normal!

From a practical point of view you have been pumping your body full of hormones and going through the ups and downs of tests, scans, ec etc, getting hope one minute and uncertainty the next ? it is normal to feel sensitive / restless.

On a more spiritual level - I personally think positive visualisation and positive emotions are a good thing at this time. I do not think there is anything wrong with feeling attached to the contents of that pertri dish.
We still have a picture of our dd at four cells - a treasured picture which I gazed at lovingly through my 2ww (well 12 day wait for me? and poss 9 day wait for you ? another advantage of blasts!). Of course, I also gazed lovingly at the two cell embie on the same picture and the two 2-cell embies on my first go. Yes, IVF does not always work however imagining a positive outcome at the moment feels wise ? there is plenty of time to deal with a negative outcome if we have to later.
I understand your mixed feelings about going to blasts ? wanting to give HH the chance to select the two with the highest chance of success mixed in with the feeling they should be back with you to nurture. I felt this for the 2 days we waited so the 4 or 5 days must be tough ? though I?d go to blasts if (when) we do IVF again.

Transferring two ? yep ? I?d do the same, even at blasts. A friend did the same and has two 2yr old boys. Hard work but amazing!

Completely understand the exhibition thing ? we ended up spending a lot of time in Richmond Park (free!) (to the point we toyed with the name Richmond as a potential ds name!).

Finally ? I don?t know if IUI involves insertion through the cervix? If it did you?ll know it is quite uncomfortable. For me it was the most painful bit of the treatment. (I tell you this not to scare you but to let you know it is normal it if does hurt a bit) You need to have a fairly full bladder but not as I had ? a very full one. What got me through it was the feeling that the embies were coming home - and if it worked it?d hurt a lot more when it / they came out at full term!

Thinking of you, your dh, and your embies!

Choc x

PS still shed loads of uncertainty about work - it is quite stressful but nothing compared to TTC!!

Hell yeah!

All the best for tomorrow Gilly.

As my Dh just said "IVF is never easy is it"

I was nigh on certain our 2nd (successful) attempt hadn't worked and was very down - then I started to worry my lack of positive attitude had affected the outcome.
The two you have an board are in absolutely the best place they can be. It is very likely if you hadn't gone to blasts they'd have chosen two of the ones that didn't make it - now you have the two strongest ones with you. Try to imagine them nestling down into your lining and getting all the goodness from you.

Try to get some rest - happy to chat tonight or tomorrow.
Choc X

Re: redundancy

Yes, they can make you redundant while on maternity leave (it happened to me) but they do have to jump through more hoops to do it. This will mean that if you want to stay you can put up a lot more of a fight against the redundancy and they will have to prove that there is no other role available to you or if you want to leave (which I did), they would be wise to give you an enhanced package. If you belong to a union, get the lawyer to go through what they are doing very, very carefully; if you don't, then it may be worth speaking to a solicitor. Ultimately you do hold a lot of cards. From reading the thread, they haven't actually said your job is one of the ones at risk though.

LalaLL - thanks you very much for responding. At last my work has called a meeting to give us all a better idea of timing / the selection process and vol redundancy.
No doubt I'll have more qs then!

Gilly. So sorry. I got my af early before the test date on my first round too. Yes - do the test (assume hh still do a blood test?) as they need that to trigger your consultation (you are entitled to one after the treatment to review - I didn't realise this and waited for ages when I didn't have to). Given your blasts seemed to do well until the end then chatting to the senior embryologist may help you understand what they'd do differently next time.
Personally, I needed to do the test to feel I had completed the process - and this enabled me to grieve. I found it very hard to handle as I think I'd got it into my head that if all else fails there is always IVF and when that didn't work I felt at a total loss. Our eventual response (after tears etc) was to give ourselves a very hedonsitic summer (I got very very drunk with some very good friends who still tease me about it ) - after such a long time of ttc we really needed a time of not being good. We were both then ready for a detox to prepare for round two.

As always, I am around to chat at any time. Thinking of you, be kind to yourself.

C x

Hi Gilly.

It is OK - and normal to feel all the things you are feeling. As I said I was at a loss after the first cycle too. It is important to grieve.

Cx