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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

Redundancy Advice


Dr Faustus

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Our Maude (36F) has been offered redundancy. She's been furloughed for a year, so no great surprise but she's still a bit cut up. 

Not been offered a package yet, but 41 and been there 10 years, with a 3 month notice period. 

Is she likely to better off looking at consultation (without knowing the offer)? Anyone got any experience of this? 

 

TIA

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Seems odd she's been offered redundancy with seeing what that offer is.  I'd be accepting nothing without seeing what the offer is first.

 

I was made redundant a few years ago after 16 years. Even though I knew it was only a matter of time for a good couple of years and it's nothing personal it still felt like a massive kick in the balls at the time.  In most of the cases I know of though it turns out to be the best thing that could've happened, even if it doesn't feel like that at the time. 

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Been made redundant twice 

Worked out for the best both times 

Not during a pandemic mind 

See what the offer is, what happens if she turns it down, ie her role, then take it from there

 

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I took voluntary in December after 14 years. 

The Mrs has gone through it recently after 6 years at her place and being on furlough since November.

Hers sounds more like the process your Mrs is going down. 

They've ticked the box of the hr process. Initial meeting. Another pointless meeting to 'start the consultation' and another meeting to discuss the outcome at which point they gave her the statutory payout amount and her pay in lieu of notice (6 weeks statutory). 

 

From mine I got 3x14 weeks pay. 12 weeks pay in lieu of notice, pay in lieu of benefits (pension, medical and holidays) and a pro-rata bonus. 

Luckily I got another job fairly quickly, on less money but with the payout I got its been a good move. 

The Mrs will have a safety net of a few months to find alternative work which she's starting to look for now. 

Edited by stevieb
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2 hours ago, Dr Faustus said:

Our Maude (36F) has been offered redundancy. She's been furloughed for a year, so no great surprise but she's still a bit cut up. 

Not been offered a package yet, but 41 and been there 10 years, with a 3 month notice period. 

Is she likely to better off looking at consultation (without knowing the offer)? Anyone got any experience of this? 

 

TIA

I went through this process in August, and also headed up the consultation period for the Client Services team. It was/is a large organisation so everything was done totally by the book, the process should be very clear.

1) The consultation period is four weeks minimum. During this time you are still employed. During these four weeks there will be meetings with a designated rep from each department (these are voted for by each team) These Reps attend these meeting to put forward questions from the teams, and individuals within the teams.

2) The consultation period can go on longer than 4 weeks, if there are genuine sticking points. You can't just keep adding in questions etc to prolong this period indefinatley however. As a rep it is your duty to argue for certain jobs to be saved, even if yours can't be. It's a fair amount of work.

3) During this period you can argue the case for depts to be retained and put forward a business case that would allow it to be sustainable, however, it really is at the employer's discretion unless you get a real solid business case and a lawyer involved as as a dept you won't be in full view of the business case across the entire organisation. A couple of teams tried it but to no avail - plus they weren't really business cases. 

4) The statutary offer is based on years worked plus your notice period salary, and any holiday still to take. They are not legally beholden to offer anymore (unless there is something specific in each contract) Annoyingly I'd left the compnay after 5 years, went elsewhere and came back for two, so my actual redundancy was crap, it was the three month's salary up front that has kept us going.

4) The business also has to offer a range of similar level jobs if they are available to the people being made redundant - a few of the younger members of the team tranferred over to these but they had to go through an interview process.

5) The business may offer some small extras if asked for (we got to keep our laptops and phones - not much I know, but it's worth the ask and helped with home schooling!)

Hope that helps. Its a shitty thing to go through, what got me through it was as soon as the process started, I was looking for jobs morning, noon and night plus doing the repping which meant I was more informed about changes sooner. Some people held off until the process was over when the writing was on the wall anyway, but legally they have to go through this, and that's another month's wage so go through this consultation process, it won't change anything but your bank balance. 

Hope that helps, remember they have a legal comitment to consult and go through this process, so don't let them take an easier way out unless it improves the package.

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36 minutes ago, Escobarp said:

I posted it at the same time

as you 😁It wasn’t there when I posted I assure you. Good programme wasn’t it 

It was.  That blokes facial injuries were pretty shocking 😳.

Back on topic - does anyone get huge redundancy pay offs anymore?  I knew of blokes in the early 90s getting £35k when they were getting laid off from bog standard jobs.  Last time it was rumoured at ours I think no one was looking at much more than around 12k

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2 hours ago, Dr Faustus said:

They are already looking to recruit another role on a similar level... 

If she is under threat of redundancy the company have a legal obligation to see if there is suitable alternative jobs available. But be aware 'suitable' can be a lower level. 
The first thing she should is clarify is she formally 'at risk' or are people saying there maybe redundancies.

If there are going to be redundancies then the question is it just her or is it affecting other people too. If the first they should be able to quickly provide her with a redundancy statement. If a mass redundancy there is a legal requirement to go through a consultancy process. People have to be given the opportunity to look at the new company structure and suggest alternatives.

I have been made redundant 3 times now and all 3 were better options than sticking in the job. 
The legal aspect of this is that it is the role that is made redundant not the person. So the basis is that the job your missus is doing is no longer needed, so it is not personal. If your missus thinks it is just because they do not like her, she has the option to fight it, but... if they do not want her, is it better to fight or play the game and take the money? 
First step as I say is to get confirmation is there an actual process underway or just rumours ? Once a formal process is underway there are a lot of obligations on the company and your missus has very clear rights. Your missus should play the game and go along with everything in the process. With 10 years service and 3 months notice she should get a decent package. 

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3 minutes ago, Duck Egg said:

It was.  That blokes facial injuries were pretty shocking 😳.

Back on topic - does anyone get huge redundancy pay offs anymore?  I knew of blokes in the early 90s getting £35k when they were getting laid off from bog standard jobs.  Last time it was rumoured at ours I think no one was looking at much more than around 12k

Lots of big companies still have a least a month per year of service plus payment in lieu of notice. 
 

So 10 years gets you 10 months plus 3 months so 13 months. Think packages are capped at most places to 24 months. Over £35k is taxable. 
My 'best' was 64weeks and 3 months in lieu of notice. So 77weeks. 

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2 hours ago, stevieb said:

I took voluntary in December after 14 years. 

The Mrs has gone through it recently after 6 years at her place and being on furlough since November.

Hers sounds more like the process your Mrs is going down. 

They've ticked the box of the hr process. Initial meeting. Another pointless meeting to 'start the consultation' and another meeting to discuss the outcome at which point they gave her the statutory payout amount and her pay in lieu of notice (6 weeks statutory). 

 

From mine I got 3x14 weeks pay. 12 weeks pay in lieu of notice, pay in lieu of benefits (pension, medical and holidays) and a pro-rata bonus. 

Luckily I got another job fairly quickly, on less money but with the payout I got its been a good move. 

The Mrs will have a safety net of a few months to find alternative work which she's starting to look for now. 

At this point @steviebknew he was going to have a stay at home wife forever.........

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4 hours ago, Dr Faustus said:

Our Maude (36F) has been offered redundancy. She's been furloughed for a year, so no great surprise but she's still a bit cut up. 

Not been offered a package yet, but 41 and been there 10 years, with a 3 month notice period. 

Is she likely to better off looking at consultation (without knowing the offer)? Anyone got any experience of this? 

 

TIA

how big's 36F ???

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Not much to add ,except I've taken voluntary redundancy twice. First one, I might have been better off financially, as in the end, I think my position would have been safe.

Second time was a no brainer.

If it feels like a proper shafting, she may struggle to trust her employer if she stays, but only she can know her own feelings.

 

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