redundancy notice period

[dogtired]

In October my partner came home to say that they were asking either for voluntary redundancy or reduction of hours where he works.
He opted for the reduction in hours.
Currently at least five or six took the "carrot" before Christmas and have left.
Again this week they had a meeting and four others who offered to go but were refused leave at the end of this week
They now say there will be no more until June but any one agreeing to this will work the twelve weeks but will not get any redundancy after these twelve weeks.
Nothing has been in writing apart from a letter asking for the volunteers last year.
My partner will be sixtyfive at the end of this year and will have worked there for eight years in July.
Tried to make sense of the "rules" but not sure if he should have had written notice I have told him not to just leave but to wait it out but is the right thing to do will there be any money to pay him when the time comes as it would seem the company are in a dire financial position
Thanks
DT:beagle:

[dogtired]

Re: redundancy notice period

Anyone help/advice?
xxDT

[mariefab]

Re: redundancy notice period

Again this week they had a meeting and four others who offered to go but were refused leave at the end of this week

Is your partner one of the four?

They now say there will be no more until June

Does this mean there there will be no more redundancies until June? If not, what?

but any one agreeing to this

Agreeing to what?

will work the twelve weeks but will not get any redundancy after these twelve weeks.

What has his employer said is special about the/these 12 weeks?
Is the workplace closing in 12 weeks, or what else is happening that makes 12 weeks significant.

OK, a couple more questions;

Has your partner been told that his role is 'at risk' of redundancy?
Has he been told that his role is redundant and that he is now working his notice?

You are correct to tell him not to just leave.
His employer seems to be making a pig's ear of the process.
I understand that you're concerned that, because of the dire financial position, his employer may not have the funds to pay the notice/redundancy/holiday pay that he's due if his employment ends.

If his employer becomes insolvent there's a government fund that he can apply to in order to recover this money.
If, however, his employer simply ends his employment without notice and doesn't pay him notice/redundancy/holiday pay he can recover these funds though an employment tribunal.
Both of these processes will unfortunately take some time but we can assist you with them.

If you could answer the questions we can advise on his next step.

[Jennie wren]

Re: redundancy notice period

Hi,
If your partner has more than 2 years service(you say he has 8), then he is entitled to redundancy pay plus accrued holidays plus the company has to have a 90 day consultation with anyone being made redundant. If his employer is making less than 20 employees redundant it should be an individual consultation. If his employer is making 20 or more employees redundant within a 90 day period it is a collective redundancy. If this doesn't happen, his redundancy may be unfair dismissal. If your partner leaves, he will lose all his redundancy pay. Go to the website below, this gives a wealth of information.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employme...cy/DG_10026616
Also ACAS http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1339 can help.
Hope this is of some sort of help.
Jennie

[dogtired]

Re: redundancy notice period

Thank you both
Answers

No he was not one of the four he had agreed, on a form they sent, to reduced hours.

The product they are on is due for completion in June and if there are no move orders there is no more work.

From what he told me the meeting was about this and from my understanding this twelve weeks was the notice period.

He was "told" by the team leader his role was at risk but not by management

sorry not much help I told him to ask the union rep to get all this in writing

Will also save the web sites

Thank you again

DT

[Jennie wren]

Re: redundancy notice period

Hi DT,
I would say the 12 weeks is the consultation period as required by employment law. During this 12 weeks they should consult with your partner to see if there are any alternatives. If there are no alternatives, your partner shud be entitled to 1.5 weeks pay for each full year of service where your age was 41 or above to a maximum of Ł400 a week (this obviously depends on what your partners earnings are). Is your partner a member of a trade union? If so, they should be involved with the consultation process and should advice your partner accordingly.
Jennie

[dogtired]

Re: redundancy notice period

Hi DT,
I would say the 12 weeks is the consultation period as required by employment law. During this 12 weeks they should consult with your partner to see if there are any alternatives. If there are no alternatives, your partner shud be entitled to 1.5 weeks pay for each full year of service where your age was 41 or above to a maximum of Ł400 a week (this obviously depends on what your partners earnings are). Is your partner a member of a trade union? If so, they should be involved with the consultation process and should advice your partner accordingly.
Jennie

Yes he is in the union thank you fo the information have saved the web sites for him to look at later.

[mariefab]

Re: redundancy notice period

From what he told me the meeting was about this and from my understanding this twelve weeks was the notice period.

Does everyone at his workplace have a contract of employment that stating that the minimum notice period is 12 weeks?
Because, unless his contract states more, notice periods would be based on the number of completed years of service by each employee (statutory minimum is 1 week per year up to a maximum of 12).

He was "told" by the team leader his role was at risk but not by management

Well, I suppose that given that there may be no more work after June, everyone there is at risk. But until he is given written notice that his role is redundant he's relatively safe.

The fact that he hasn't had anything in writing suggests that this is a very small employer and could also explains why it's not being handled very well.

[Jennie wren]

Re: redundancy notice period

Does everyone at his workplace have a contract of employment that stating that the minimum notice period is 12 weeks?
Because, unless his contract states more, notice periods would be based on the number of completed years of service by each employee (statutory minimum is 1 week per year up to a maximum of 12).

If you have been employed by a company for less than 2 years, the employer should give reasonable notice, for example, that stated in your contract of employment. If you have been employed for over 2 years, you become entitled to all redundancy procedures. So whether it be 2 years employment or 8 years, you are still entitled to 90 days consultation and redundancy pay.

[mariefab]

Re: redundancy notice period

I think that jennie's probably right that the 12 weeks is likely to be a consultation period.
That blows my theory that it's a very small employer and gives them less of an excuse for failing to follow a proper documented process and causing so much uncertainty.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Unless the contract of employment states more, it's 1 weeks notice per complete year (up to 12 weeks max).


http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...riod-of-notice


If you've been employed for 2 years or more you are entitled to a redundancy payment.


http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/135

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/155


Collective redundancy procedures only kick in if, within a 90 day period, a certain number of redundancies are proposed. (TULCRA section 188)

20-99 employees a minimum of 30 days
100+ employees a minimum of 90 days

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/52

[Shadowcat]

Re: redundancy notice period

Has he spoken to his union representative?

[charitynjw]

Re: redundancy notice period

Again this week they had a meeting and four others who offered to go but were refused leave at the end of this week

Is your partner one of the four?

They now say there will be no more until June

Does this mean there there will be no more redundancies until June? If not, what?

but any one agreeing to this

Agreeing to what?

will work the twelve weeks but will not get any redundancy after these twelve weeks.

What has his employer said is special about the/these 12 weeks?
Is the workplace closing in 12 weeks, or what else is happening that makes 12 weeks significant.

OK, a couple more questions;

Has your partner been told that his role is 'at risk' of redundancy?
Has he been told that his role is redundant and that he is now working his notice?

You are correct to tell him not to just leave.
His employer seems to be making a pig's ear of the process.
I understand that you're concerned that, because of the dire financial position, his employer may not have the funds to pay the notice/redundancy/holiday pay that he's due if his employment ends.

If his employer becomes insolvent there's a government fund that he can apply to in order to recover this money.
If, however, his employer simply ends his employment without notice and doesn't pay him notice/redundancy/holiday pay he can recover these funds though an employment tribunal.
Both of these processes will unfortunately take some time but we can assist you with them.

If you could answer the questions we can advise on his next step.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employme...ay/DG_10026695

[dogtired]

Re: redundancy notice period

Thank you every one will have to print out much of this when I get back to my printer.
LB what would we do without you much appreceated
DT

[dogtired]

Re: redundancy notice period

Quick up date.
Two weeks ago they had a "meeting" the entire company has be "bought" by a "consultancy" company based in Amsterdam.
Still no real answers looks like more redundencys soon.