Is this legal?

kittiej

My section is going at work so four of us are facing redundancy.

We work in accounts doing purchase ledger. Three of us are part time and one works full time.

A full time job has become available in customer services this has been given straight to the full timer because my employer says it's to stop unfairness and someone more favourable being selected and it fits the number of hours (even though they are different times), grade and pay.

This person also needs to be trained to do the job which is a retail job. If it had been another job in accounts then fair enough.

The part timers feel as though we have been discriminated against because we did't even have the opportunity to apply for it.

Do you think we are within our rights to complain or should we just accept it?

robpw2

do you want the full time job or are you just upset that someone in your dept is not being made redundant?

i cannot see as you have a complaint really as they are making you redundant ,they will pay you reduncy pay

ekkygirl

You should have been given the chance. Two part timers could have done the full time job or one of you may have wanted the chance to work full time in the new position

Maxjessdru

No its not legal - they are not allowed to discriminate against those working part-time. All those in line for redundancy should have been offered the chance to apply for the job - I would speak to ACAS asap if I was you.

kittiej

I tried to phone acas but they were busy, so i tried later but was too late I think.

I did want to apply for this job yes, as did the others, i worked in retail for many years and another girl did customer complaints when she worked for a previous company.

They are trying to justify their decision by saying they have given the job to someone already woking full time and that they class any office job as admin not specific to any department, even though it means training this person to do a new job.

Rob I don't want to be made redundant neither do the others, we just wanted a fair chance instead of being excluded.

CFC

Are you prepared to work full time? An employer is allowed to redeploy according to hours worked as well as skills, however you should really be informed that there is a full time job available and all of you given equal chance to state your case as to why you should be transferred into the new role.

This is because they have classed the customer services job as a 'like for like' role from what you are saying. So the situation is no longer 'we are making four people redundant but we have found a suitable redeployment for one of them' but 'we are making three people redundant out of a pool of four people'

The fact that a person needs training is irrelevant.

There would be clear unfairness if there were also part time jobs available and you were not transferred into them.

I think you do need to speak to ACAS to clarify whether your employers have breached the rules on 'fair selection for redundancy'. Your first port of call would be to raise an appeal against your redundancy on these grounds if this is the case.

I have to say that unless one of you three wants to work full time, don't get your hopes up because the ultimate outcome will be the same though. You cannot insist that an employer make the job part time or job share if this is unsuitable for their needs. The employer can insist that they want a full time worker in a particular job.

kittiej

Thanks CFC.

I phoned ACAS and they said to put in a grievance against the decision.

Yes we all wanted to work full time and that's why we feel so deflated now.

When the job first came to light we were all told it was an option for us, there is also a new part time job being created which is very similar to what one girl does already so I didn't expect to get that one anyway.

All along we are being told one thing and then at the last minute my employer turns around and does the opposite.

I've now got an employment lawyer looking at the situation as Acas advised me that I will probably need one, hmm.

My employer told us they had to automatically give the full time job to the full timer since this is the legal thing to do, they went onto say that the full timer was now taken out of any redundancy situation therefore leaving the three part timers but there is the new part time job to apply for but they don't know what the hours will be!

We're not very happy at the moment.

CFC

kittiej wrote: »

Thanks CFC.

I phoned ACAS and they said to put in a grievance against the decision.

Yes we all wanted to work full time and that's why we feel so deflated now.

When the job first came to light we were all told it was an option for us, there is also a new part time job being created which is very similar to what one girl does already so I didn't expect to get that one anyway.

All along we are being told one thing and then at the last minute my employer turns around and does the opposite.

I've now got an employment lawyer looking at the situation as Acas advised me that I will probably need one, hmm.

My employer told us they had to automatically give the full time job to the full timer since this is the legal thing to do, they went onto say that the full timer was now taken out of any redundancy situation therefore leaving the three part timers but there is the new part time job to apply for but they don't know what the hours will be!

We're not very happy at the moment.

I can see why ACAS advised you to get an employment lawyer. From what you have posted here, it does appear that the employer has not acted correctly BECAUSE you are all willing to work full time. However one does need to see all the documentation to double check this as it is not entirely straightforward.

Good luck.

kittiej

Yes we don't know whether we are coming or going tbh.

I am going to try and get paper copies of the presentations so I can have a proper read through, I can't take things in properly when it's presented as a slide show on a wall.

I will see what the other girls want to do tomorrow as well because they feel angry also.

I had to have Friday off work otherwise I think I would have got myself the sack lol!