Made redundant for refusing 3 day week, and immediately re-engaged on 3 day week?

Horace

If you are made redundant from one job and redeployed into another with the same firm you don't get a redundancy payment.

The 4 day post is now redundant and no longer exists, however you either accept a redundancy payment and leave the employ of your firm or you forfeit the redundancy pay and accept the 3 day a week job.

I know what I would be doing in this current economic climate - accepting the 3 day week job and try and get something for the other two days.

SJR21

Do you have any legal advice cover through a union or professional membership, home insurance or anything like that. You can often get advice on this type of issue for free and its always worth a quick call to find out.
I've recently been told my position is potentially redundant and am going through consultation to determine alternative options, so I've used this service.

good luck

exil

This sounds like a case of a new contract being offered for the same job, not a redundancy situation. When a post is redundant, the job disappears and no-one is hired to replace you - and you are certainly not hired to replace yourself! It's more like the common situation of being "asked" to take a cut in salary or change in terms and conditions.

LittleVoice

exil wrote: »

This sounds like a case of a new contract being offered for the same job, not a redundancy situation. When a post is redundant, the job disappears and no-one is hired to replace you - and you are certainly not hired to replace yourself! It's more like the common situation of being "asked" to take a cut in salary or change in terms and conditions.

Redundancy is when there is either no longer a requirement for, or a reduced requirement for, work of a particular type. So a three-day/week contract rather than a four- or five-day/week contract suggests a reduced requirement and therefore it is a redundancy situation.

leachyd

Right then, your employer cant do that.

The reason he is trying to, is that it will cost him in one offs to pay you off for redundancy. He can't change a contract without your agreement, to do so is a repudiatory breach of contract and you can resign claiming unfair constructive dismissal. Alternatively, if he has formally made you redundant, then you go ahead and claim it. The fact that he has given you a new contract matters not, it's void and the old one is valid still.

problem for you is that you might struggle to get a new job in the current climate, so is any statutory or non statutory pay out worth it in the long run? Take the pay out, dont get a new job and have zero income, or accept new terms and survive on lower, but atleast existant wages?

I might be wrong about the above, so if anyone is qualified in this then correct me.

cmn1977

I agree that finding work to make up for the lost hours and trying to survive on an 18 hour week might be sensible, but my boss has stated that she cannot guarantee me work and so if say in 3 months she has to make me redundant and i've been working a 3 day week, then the redundancy will be worked out on the 3 days, not the 5 that I have worked for many years!

I don't know what to do for the best, I can see the best in both options!

C

LittleVoice

The maximum statutory redundancy pay is increasing to £350/week with effect from 1 February.

You would need to be earning about £11.70/hour to reach this amount for your 4-day week and about £15.50/hour for 3-day week.

cmn1977

Yeah, but am on £7.50 an hour which would make a big difference in the level of redundancy. Small town retail work, not much else available, swings and roundabouts come to mind!

craig777

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10037116

If you don't agree on a change to your employment terms and conditions, your employer can terminate your current contract and offer you a new one, as long as you are given the required notice. If you don't agree to the new contract, you will either receive forced redunancy or the sack... of course if you're sacked, you could then claim unfair dismissal. But, if your company has good reasons to change your contract, then you'd be hard pressed to win a court case for unfair dismissal.

ceridwen

EDIT: See O.P.'s employer intends to make them redundant - rather than dismiss them (ie employer has already realised this is too major a change of conditions to take the risk of dismissing them and having a Tribunal say it was unfair).