Redundancy and taking the company to court
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Mo1961
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi I have been made redundant be a large international company, and am on Garden Leave.
Couple of questions if I may
Setting the scene.........The company has hit the affected people for pension reasons and to reduce wages and pension contributions for long term employees (long term employees have a far larger contribution paid to the pension scheme by the company, good luck at the time but puts a target on yourself when they are struggling for cash)......this was done quickly over a week or so via a spreadsheet to cut out costs., but obviously cannot be proved, but shows where the company is at.
Issues I see.........
1. I have been graded as a pool of one, and yet there are others in the same department with the same job title, who were not pooled.
2.. In addition my role was not made redundant and the business is continuing with the role.
3. The company has been agreesivively and manipulating the evidence to protect the companies interests, as such they have provided me eventually with the HR notes of the meeting edited (key points to what was said by my manager that went against the companies case), have been rubbed out it was written in pencil and what was left is seen to be there as partial edges of the words are still there. HR did type up the notes of the meeting but the person that did so obviously has issues as they wrote at the top these notes are non-verbatim
I wish to move to court on this I assume it has to be via ACAS as normal court would be too risky for myself and my family.
My house insurance has a legal cover clause of £50k does this cover such actions, unfortunately not in a union, so would have to employ a lawyer,
On employing a lawyer what should I look out for, as I have young children that I need to financially protect.
Thanks
Couple of questions if I may
Setting the scene.........The company has hit the affected people for pension reasons and to reduce wages and pension contributions for long term employees (long term employees have a far larger contribution paid to the pension scheme by the company, good luck at the time but puts a target on yourself when they are struggling for cash)......this was done quickly over a week or so via a spreadsheet to cut out costs., but obviously cannot be proved, but shows where the company is at.
Issues I see.........
1. I have been graded as a pool of one, and yet there are others in the same department with the same job title, who were not pooled.
2.. In addition my role was not made redundant and the business is continuing with the role.
3. The company has been agreesivively and manipulating the evidence to protect the companies interests, as such they have provided me eventually with the HR notes of the meeting edited (key points to what was said by my manager that went against the companies case), have been rubbed out it was written in pencil and what was left is seen to be there as partial edges of the words are still there. HR did type up the notes of the meeting but the person that did so obviously has issues as they wrote at the top these notes are non-verbatim
I wish to move to court on this I assume it has to be via ACAS as normal court would be too risky for myself and my family.
My house insurance has a legal cover clause of £50k does this cover such actions, unfortunately not in a union, so would have to employ a lawyer,
On employing a lawyer what should I look out for, as I have young children that I need to financially protect.
Thanks
0
Comments
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The chances are that what the company are doing is correct, and your assumptions are incorrect.
The role itself has to be redundant for it to be legal. There are other aspects to it (such as consolation period etc), but with you being a pool of one, many of those don't apply.
You state that others in your department perform exactly the same role. Are you sure this is correct? Is every aspect of the role identical? My gut feel is that the others with the same title have a slightly different role and so that would be enough for the company to argue that their role would not be at risk (but your is).
Having a job title the same does not in itself give any case, nor does the companies reasons for making redundancies. The only thing you are able to challenge is the process - has it been fair.
The notes you have from HR are the record. I doubt there is anyway for you to prove they have been edited at all. Even if they were, it would be hard to prove that this was done purely to spite you.
My advice to you is to move on as gracefully as possible. Negotiate for a better pay off (and references), but focus on your next role.
However, if you are insistent on following what I see as a lost cause, most lawyers would have 1 hours free initial consultation. Seek one local to you that specialises in employment law.
I would also put in a freedom of information request to your company for all the available information they have on you (You are legally entitled to this, but you need to pay a small admin fee).
As I said, I would focus on your next role, especially as you have young children.0 -
I was advised by a director (who was not happy at what the company was doing) to ask for all information on myself through the Freedom of Information act,
Could you advise (would be greatly appreciated) on the exact wording that I should send to ensure that they provide everything relating to myself.
Could you advise what the admin fee is likely to be, and who it would be payable to.
Thanks0 -
HR did type up the notes of the meeting but the person that did so obviously has issues as they wrote at the top these notes are non-verbatim
Unless the meeting was recorded and the person that typed it up transcribed it word for word, which woudl be unusual, this it seems reasonable to me. Are you suggesting that the meeting notes do not accurately reflect what happened in the meeting ?My house insurance has a legal cover clause of £50k does this cover such actions, unfortunately not in a union, so would have to employ a lawyer
You'd need to check the T&C for your particular insurance - I know that mine specifically excludes 'employment disputes'.0 -
Could you advise (would be greatly appreciated) on the exact wording that I should send to ensure that they provide everything relating to myself.
Could you advise what the admin fee is likely to be, and who it would be payable to.
You need to find out who in the company deals with Data Protection and approach them - perhaps ask HR or your manager if unsure ?
What you are referring to is known as a 'Subject Access Request' and a company can charge up to £10 for providing the information. There's no specific standard form but see this link for background and details you should be providing (as your employer they will probably have these already)
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information/0 -
I was advised by a director (who was not happy at what the company was doing) to ask for all information on myself through the Freedom of Information act,
Could you advise (would be greatly appreciated) on the exact wording that I should send to ensure that they provide everything relating to myself.
Could you advise what the admin fee is likely to be, and who it would be payable to.
Thanks
FOI's only apply to the public sector, Private companies aren't obliged to provide anything0 -
p00hsticks wrote: »You need to find out who in the company deals with Data Protection and approach them - perhaps ask HR or your manager if unsure ?
What you are referring to is known as a 'Subject Access Request' and a company can charge up to £10 for providing the information. There's no specific standard form but see this link for background and details you should be providing (as your employer they will probably have these already)
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information/
And when making a SAR, it helps if you can specify the types of documents that might reference you. For example, you could say "emails and reports" but actually you should say "letters, memos, emails, direct messaging transcripts, spreadsheets, presentations, reports, any handwritten notes ....":heartpuls Mrs Marleyboy :heartpuls
MSE: many of the benefits of a helpful family, without disadvantages like having to compete for the tv remote
Proud Parents to an Aut-some son 0 -
A quick google, the first result is this, which gives you example wording:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-the-public/documents/1253/how_to_make_a_request.doc0
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