Has my DH been made redundant or just dismissed?

[gosssipgirl]

DH was given 2 weeks notice (well, 1 week 3 days notice to be exact but could well have 2 days holiday owing to cover the other 2 days).

DH was told on 10th March.

DH came home with letter from employer on 12th March saying:

"... regret no more work for you after 19th March. Main reason for this is large contract cancelled and no work as a result. Please accept this as written confirmation of the termination of your employment with myself.

Blah blah blah you are great, I will miss you etc etc blah blah blah...

I hope we can remain friends and if you don't manage to find other employment and I have work you might be able to carry out, we might be able to sort something out".

SO, is DH just dismissed end of story?

Forgot to add DH has worked there since January 2008 ( so over 2 years)

his employer is making him redundant. and he is not following the correct procedure for doing this

the links i gave you on your other thread talk about redundancy pay and notice periods.

his employer is either unaware of his obligations or is hoping your dh is unaware of his rights. it's NOT a case of, sorry mate no more work!

oh AND any holiday he is owed is additional to the notice period. his employer is trying it on!

My DH is totally unaware (not from UK) and his employer would know that.

Although he did say he had spoken to his accountant about this so you would think they would mention it to him?

I will ring ACAS tomorrow morning.

The employer is a family friend so it's quite an awkward situation.

DH has not got an employment contract - does this affect anything?

No - he doesn't need a contract, as I said he will be entitled to something ....

employment contracts

employment status

his status could affect things. however, all things being equal, he has worked there for over 2 years so is entitled to redundancy pay.

ring acas first thing.

Thank you very much to you both.

I wouldn't have known this if you hadn't pointed it out to me.

I will ring ACAS in the morning as according to Direct Gov he is owed

2 weeks stat. redundancy pay
3 days payment in lieu of notice
and any outstanding holiday pay

He only earns min. wage but every little helps as they say!!!!

my sister was recently made redundant. she got her notice pay, her holiday pay, her redundancy pay and then signed on for JSA, housing benefit and council tax benefit. she ALSO gets something like £500 from the government for being redundant to help her re train. she is going to use it to learn to drive

Gossipgirl - the employer is trying it on, but it might be worth going back saying that if they don't follow proper process then a tribunal will follow.

ruddynorah what was the name of the retraining scheme you mentioned?

DH is planning on going on his LGV training course since he has recently passed the theory test, trouble is the practical course is £1000 so if there is help out there he might be eligible?

RedbinDippers I don't know how much is complete ignorance and how much the boss is trying it on to be honest, but seeing as the money will add up to around £500 we can't let this go! Friend or no friend!

Will probably mean this man won't offer DH work again, but DH is ok with that.

Ok, I have spoken to ACAS and they agree with what ppl on here have said, DH has indeed been made redundant and is entitled to stat. redundancy pay.

I have drafted a letter to his employer as a first step:

Thank you for your letter dated 12th March 2010.

I am assuming that my employment has been terminated as in the letter, and not that I have been temporarily laid off until more work comes in.

On this basis, I have taken advice and I believe I am entitled to the following:-

3 days payment in lieu of notice (14-day notice period runs from 11-24th March
2 weeks statutory redundancy pay
Any holiday pay accrued and not taken until 24th March 2010

I know that losing the conversion contract was beyond your control and I thank you for informing me as soon as possible. It has been a pleasure to work with you and I will miss my job very much.

I wish you every good fortune and would like to thank you for having me as part of your team.

End.

Any comments gratefully received!

Really nice letter.

Glad that this was picked up on the other thread- just cant beleive I overlooked it sorry!

very good letter. just be aware that the boss will probably try to change things to 'laid off' so read up on that on those links i gave you.

regarding the training for my sister, i'm really not sure. she just said as she's been made redundant they're giving her £500 to spend on re training and learning to drive is one of the approved courses. it may well be to do with the area she lives in or the type of job she's lost. she had been working on a government funded legal helpline, rather like citizens advice. it may be by way of an apology from them for moving their funding to another company! anyway, your dh should look into 'train to gain' and adult education grants. also some councils have their own funding available in areas of high unemployment. you would hope that your local job centre will be able to help your dh access all this kind of info.

all the best!

Update: DH wants to wait until Friday to give the letter to the boss as he says he might be aware of everything and doesn't want to leave on a bad note.

I'll update again on Friday.

Update: The boss has spoken to DH and he has to work (& get paid for) another week so that sorts out the notice period.

He is also going to pay him the two weeks redundancy pay.

He has told DH that this is a gesture of goodwill as the situation is not clear cut. I think he is referring to the fact that he went on holiday (the boss, not DH) for 3 weeks last Easter time and DH worked part time / some days not at all while he was away. But surely this does not affect his continuity of employment as it was only temporary?

I have asked DH to remind him he also owes him any holiday pay.

Glad it's being sorted though and DH has another week of work - all be it under "difficult" circumstances.

'he has to work' -so there is some work then?

the 'gesture of goodwill' is his boss trying to save face. the situation IS clear cut!

well done for sorting it out

No the fact that your DH reduced his hours temporarily for 3 weeks doesn't affect his continuity of employment at all.

ruddy I think once the boss realised he had not given DH enough notice, he decided to keep him on for an extra week rather than paying him the 3 days in lieu of notice. Goodness knows what he is going to find him to do - most likely some painting on his own house or something.

DH is telling me to stop worrying, it's all sorted etc, but until the money is in the bank, I will worry!

At least with 1 more week of work we will get 1 more week of tax credits contributing to DS's nursery fees

thank you flowery I didn't think so, but as you can see, DH's boss likes to talk out of his arse.

He keeps blaming his accountants but surely accountants aren't HR consultants? Surely they are trying to save the boss money?!