Redundancy questions.

hawkis

Hello all,
I am being made redundant as of 1st of July. Or at least my job is. My boss wants me to work pretty much all of my 12 week notice period. I have worked for the company for 15 years and my day to day knowledge is vital for him to be able to operate the company on his own in the future. He is losing all seven of his staff as the parent company wants to close us down and have him only in the UK to run the company.
I am considering leaving on 1st of July and giving four weeks notice due to my disgust at the 'enhanced' package he has offered me. This basically rewards me with an extra £50 a week for my 15 years of loyalty on my basic redundancy. I work for a company owned by one of the largest multi-nationals in the world. I think an extra £800 for 15 years work is an insult.
Anyway, enough of my bitterness. What I want to know is:
My 16th full year passes during my notice period in August. The boss tells me I'm only entitled to 16 years worth if I am physically still working there as of that date. Is that correct? Seems unfair as they decide when I finish. They could pay me off the day before my 16th year is done and I miss out on an extra week's money.
Although the company shuts on 1st of July, the parent company still has nothing in place to take over my job. They are centralising everything yet still with only just over a week until we close, none of our customers have been informed, nor does anyone know who will be doing my job come 1st of July. There is a chance that the company will not be able to close come 1st of July for this reason. In my opinion it is impossible in fact. Whoever does my job will need much training just to use the computer system we use as we have been using the parent company software for two years now (guinea pigs) whereas the rest of the world is still using the original software used by us prior to being bought by the multi-national. So, my question is: If the company cannot close on 1st of July and they want me to continue with my job as it is, where do I stand? My job officially finishes in just over a week. I have it in writing. Will they need to re-employ me? I.E., they cannot force me to continue doing a job that they've made redundant?
If I don't have proof of a job offer or just say I don't want to work for you any more due to the embarrassment of an enhanced package you've offered me; can I give notice on 1st of July and go four weeks later without jeopardising my basic redundancy that will be due. I read that an employer is unlikely to take me to court if I just want to go.
Finally, and sorry for the long post; is there any way or point to me challenging the 'enhanced' package? Due to the way it's been done and me being the lowest earner; people with less service but a higher wage are taking £1000's more than me with their enhancement.
And I now promise this is the last question!
Would YOU be happy with an extra £50 a year for 15 years of loyalty? Would you forego any due money in the way of notice pay and your 'enhanced' package? I would lose £800 from my enhanced package, and up to £4600 in 'normal' pay and notice pay over the next three months or so. It's not about the money for me. My boss needs me far more than I need him and I would gladly leave before he wants me to just to show how upset I really am with his offer. After our meeting it is obvious he thinks I will stay just because I won't want to miss out on the money.
Thanks for listening and I appreciate any help and advice.

Iswalt

I have been made redundant, (62 years old, 47 years in same Company). No enhanced package no extra, just bare minimum. Do I have to give all my details when just signing on? Do I have to sign on immediate from Redundant? reckon will not get anything for a long time. Why tell all now? Iswalt.

hawkis

Only basic redundancy after 47 years? :eek:
That is harsh. Is that because the company has disappeared or they're just not very nice?

LittleVoice

hawkis -

If you give notice, you will not be entitled to any redundancy pay. Your giving notice is your decision to resign.

How easy will it be for you to find another job? If you can find something suitable easily, then you don't need to worry about resigning and therefore not being eligible for JSA.

Personally, I would not expect any enhanced redundancy pay and an extra £800 tax-free would be appreciated. What do you want from them: £100/week extra, £250/week extra? What would make you happy?

The extra £50/week is like they are paying you about 15% more than they need to under the statutory scheme: perhaps your employment contract has the enhanced scheme. Are others getting the same percentage enhancement?

McKneff

I agree with Littlevoice re giving in your notice. You wont be entitled to any redundancy payments or enhanced payments, dont cut your nose off to spite your face so be very careful. Lots of companies these days give the basic redundancy package so be thankful for your £50 a year.

hawkis

I should have mentioned that the boss said that if any of us did find a job in the notice period he would "do whatever he could to get us our full (statutory) redundancy" if we wanted to leave during that time.
One of my colleagues was indeed offered a job on Friday, so I am interested to see what happens there.
If my colleague wants to leave on 1st of August to start the new job, the boss will have to decide if he will pay out or not.
I actually don't know what I'd be happy with to be honest, but it wasn't so much the amount, but the way it was presented to me.
It was almost as if the boss was embarrassed to offer it to me and was expecting a backlash from me in response.
He did say beforehand that someone was going to be very disappointed. Turns out it was me!
So, to clarify this (aside from any other possible circumstances), if I were to get a job and they required me to start on 1st of August let's say, I would not be entitled to my redundancy if I left before my 12 weeks was up? Or at least it would be at the boss' discretion?

FYI, everybody's enhancement was calculated in the same way.
I don't have a job to go to.

Poppy9

If your job is essential and they don't have anyone to do it have you considered that you might be kept on at the 11th hour?

hawkis

Poppy9 wrote: »

If your job is essential and they don't have anyone to do it have you considered that you might be kept on at the 11th hour?

Yes I have. That's one of my questions in the original post.
Where do I stand if they want to revive my job? Can a redundancy be 'cancelled'?
I have a letter that tells me I have no job as of 1st of July, so I assume they would have to go back on that in some way if they wanted me to continue what I am doing now?
How could I do a job that officially doesn't exist because it's been made redundant?

hawkis

Me again. :rotfl:
I am meeting with the boss on Friday. Should be interesting.
So, it's one week before closure and still only a handful of customers know about it.
A letter is being posted from Germany today to advise customers. That should arrive at the earliest Friday I would have thought. It states that "with immediate effect" all contact should be made through our German office.
I really need some advice on this "job being made redundant" question.
There's the possibility that I may be asked to continue to do my job after 1st of July. My job will be made redundant on 1st of July of course so where do I stand? As I see it, they'd have to re-employ me?

moneymouth77

I'd bring this up: http://money.sky.com/mp/features/news/2009/06/24/Youth-unemployment-set-to-treble.html With no one giving jobs to young learners, it's worth their time hanging on to people who've been with the company for a while, otherwise their pool of possible employees shrinks to those who haven't worked before, of which there are too many!

getmore4less

Poppy9 wrote: »

If your job is essential and they don't have anyone to do it have you considered that you might be kept on at the 11th hour?

They can't withraw the notice without mutual agreement so puts the OP in a good position to negotiate if they get desperate.

Depending on the wording of the notice letter they may have messed up if they say the job finishes 1july since there is not enough time to work any notice and they may have to give PILON.