Redundancy and contract extensions - advise needed

sweetmoneysaver

Hi,

Can anyone help? I am being made redundant and a few options are being put forward to give me some extra time in the company before leaving. One is a short extension to my contract to finish off some work and the other is a maternity leave cover. My question is, HR have told us that if we do two contacts back to back or start one and get an extension to that contract I would lose my redundancy payment. Is this true? I have tried searching the dti website but cannot find the answer.

Savvy_Sue

I don't know, but I am sure there would be something helpful on the ACAS site!

sweetmoneysaver

Thanks. I did look but cannot find anything. HR are insisting that an extension plus mat cover or a mat cover that gets extended would cause the individual to lose their redundancy. It doesn't sound right but could well be. The problem is no-one trusts HR as there has been a lot of contradictory info.

Savvy_Sue

I think ACAS has a telephone helpline? If not, try your local CAB (if you can get through!)

hex2

If there is suitable alternate work for you then they should not be making you redundant even if your role has ceased to exist! They can insist that you take a trial period in an alternate role if it is demonstrably suitable.
If you do take the extension to your contract you have a right to a trial period during which you can resign claiming it is unsuitable and still retain your right to statutory redundancy pay.

I cant see how they are going to do this legally. You would be transferring to a short term contract following a redundancy - if they insist on a break in service (minimum 7 days sunday to sunday) then you have to be paid your redundancy anyway. If they let you go straight into the new role then you retain your current service and rights so would be eligible for redundancy pay at the end of the short term contract. I suppose they could try and argue that it is for some other substantial reason but it is a bit of a grey area.

If you do take the alternate contract insist that they put something in writing to say that if there is no permanent role at the end of the contract you will still be paid your redundancy, and that you will get a trial period during which you can resign and still receive your money.

I am a HR practitioner rather than an employment law specialist but do think this is a bit dodgy. We are always under pressure at times like this so insist on everything in writing. May growl at you but take a lot more care with legality of what we are trying to do!

hex2

I have had a quick search round and can confirm that you are entitled to a four week statutory trial period if your contract would change (ie short term).
Also ACAS on redundancy says that employees working on a fixed term contract can no longer waive their eligibility to a redundancy payment, so you would legally be entitled to your redundancy pay when the short term contract came to an end - as long as they terminated your employment rather than you resigning.