Redudnant and in appeal, how much is enough?

leighfire

:cool:
Hi, I’ve just been made redundant and am in the course of following the appeals process.
My employer has failed to follow process and my case is good but will likely end up in an ET.
The point of this post is 3 fold….

1 I read up about the process and have put the appeal together myself, I am right and want to tell others not to feel oppressed by an employer that is WRONG, if your right be strong….

2 to seek advice….. I am not a union member and need advice about finding a solicitor should I need to take out ET1 etc…… I have looked online and the cheapest way seems to be the best part of £1k just for lookin…… and it appears that wining an ET will not enable you to recover costs??????

3 what do I do???? During my appeal the HR lady asked me what I wanted…. I told her my job back…she then said but what if she is unable to grant that, what do you want?.....
I know what she is asking but never being in this position am unsure how to answer….. what do I say give me £10k and I will walk away?????
If I was to work things out and be honest with myself, £8k and I will walk as this will see me ok for a few months and make this whole thing go away. Research online says an ET would be about £5k (average) I would only be likely to receive about £10k max, that is loss of potential earnings and protective payment…. I believe that I have 80+% case for failure to follow process and 75+% case for unfair selection.
I have the HR’s phone number do I call her and drop my guard or wait till they make me an offer, what if my figures are wrong and they were to offer me £12k to go away and I ask for £8k???
They have treated me very badly I am peaved by them and not sure what to do next any help you could give me would be very welcomed because I am feeling a little bruised after my appeal meeting……. :-)

therealdessie

If you really believe you can win the ET then you need to press on with that, with or without representation. Go to your local library's reference section and look at the books on employment law - they have a lot of good examples of cases which have been won and lost, and give a frank appraisal of the process.

Check your home insurance, car insurance, any insurance you have to see if you have access to legal help. I didn't know I did until I checked mine and I've got a qualified lawyer looking at my paperwork now.

So far as the cash goes, remember the company has cash laying around - redundancies are often an early opportunity to reduce future costs, it doesn't always mean they're bankrupt. Part of the redundancy planning is to keep some cash back to pay people off so there's no reason you can't take advantage of that - but don't spill your hand. If they're prepared to make a payment then start with an informal letter outlining your dissastisfaction (you could make this your appeal) and see how they respond.

If they come back with something along the lines of what they have told you then suggest you may have to press for legal action and at that stage outline the reasons you believe you can win the ET. An average consultation with an employment lawyer including letter writing can reach around £2500 for an employer, and barristers typically charge between £3000 and £5000 for a court appearance - the employer has to consider all of these costs as a major risk when considering if an employee has a case for an ET. More often that not this will drive them to make an offer, especially if their lawyers advise it.

If you don't like their offer, be reasonable and tell them why, but don't settle for less just because you want this over with - the first offer is often not expected to be taken.

Remember even if you do start tribunal proceedings you've nothing to lose as costs are highly unlikely to be levied against you. You will need to consider whether the money they offer is worth the risk (i.e. if you lose the case and the cash is taken off the table) but that's for you to decide on the strength of your argument (CAB can advise with this too don't forget).

If all else fails you'll still have the ACAS meeting prior to the tribunal where you could still come away with a decent deal.