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Good evening, I am employed in Scotland. My company has a no redundancy policy. I was employed on a permanent contract in 2020 with a role in a large project but was immediately asked by the company to undertake an interim role due to a retirement. I did that role for a year and then they moved me into a role that required me to deliver projects however throughout all of this my contract or job title was not amended. I was never given any role within the project that I was hired for in 2020. In December 2022 the company decided to cancel the large project. When they did that they informed me that as my role had been made redundant I was deemed supernumerary and that they would place me in a supernumerary pool until such time as they could find me a role within the company. However, alongside that they told me that I would no longer receive pay rises as I was subject to pay protection. I asked HR for clarity around what my pay was protected from falling to and was pushed to the Org Change policy. This policy did not contain guidance for a situation such as mine but it did state that if declared supernumerary basic pay was paid. It also stated that pay protection may be implemented if a suitable alternative role was found that was remunerated at a lower scale to the current scale. It stated that pay protection would last for a period of 5 years. However, HR told me I was not downgraded and that I should continue to deliver the same work that I was delivering prior to the project collapse.
I raised a grievance and it was not upheld although the recommendation of the grievance was to alter the policy to reflect the implementation of pay protection on those in the supernumerary pool. The irony of that was not lost on me. I appealed the outcome but the manager who heard it felt the application of the policy by HR was not directly catered for but was in the spirit of major organisational change. I have now been offered the opportunity to appeal to the MD but wondered what the general consensus was. My feeling is that the company have no motivation to find me suitable alternative employment as they have, in their words, frozen my pay. It feels like they have shut up shop on me and I don’t know where else to turn. I am sure it is incorrect that they are penalising me but can’t make them agree with me. The decision would set a precedent for others in the company and that would cost them. What do you think I should do next?
I raised a grievance and it was not upheld although the recommendation of the grievance was to alter the policy to reflect the implementation of pay protection on those in the supernumerary pool. The irony of that was not lost on me. I appealed the outcome but the manager who heard it felt the application of the policy by HR was not directly catered for but was in the spirit of major organisational change. I have now been offered the opportunity to appeal to the MD but wondered what the general consensus was. My feeling is that the company have no motivation to find me suitable alternative employment as they have, in their words, frozen my pay. It feels like they have shut up shop on me and I don’t know where else to turn. I am sure it is incorrect that they are penalising me but can’t make them agree with me. The decision would set a precedent for others in the company and that would cost them. What do you think I should do next?
