Taking large employer to Tribunal - is it worth risking my payout? (maternity leave)

michaelvintner

Take 18 grand, look for new job. For such a decent amount of money tribuneral isn't worth it.

I think you have a very strong case at tribuneral but if it was me I would just take the money.

Company sound like a bunch of a*seholes to do that to you when you are on maternity leave.

Why would you want to go back there now, anyway?

18 grand is a reasonable offer.

RobertoMoir

I got dismissed unfairly, but got offered the chance to resign with 3 months salary (on top of what was owed to me in terms of accrued holiday, etc), and allowed to keep a laptop and IT training materials back in the day where both of those things were worth a couple of grand each.

Now I could have turned this offer down and gone to a tribunal, but I chose to be pragmatic - what would i "reasonably" be awarded had I won, and would that probably be more or less than what I had already been offered. Now in my case, I already had a job interview lined up for what would have been the afternoon after I finished work on the day I ended up getting dismissed and I was offered that particular job (on much improved pay) so I was effectively out of work for a few hours, hence didn't expect that a tribunal would do much for me.

You need to be pragmatic too. How does the offer stack up to your salary, what could you reasonably expect to be awarded at tribunal if you turn it down and go for that, and (this is the tricky bit in the current climate) how long are you likely to be out of work and having to "manage" on this payout without a job?

Ewarwoowar2

Having negotiated many compromise agreements on behalf of employers and employees, I would say that a payout of £18k isn't bad. Many employers at the moment are only offering statutory (or a bit over statutory) redundancy.

In relation to the law, you are protected in two ways:

1. It is automatically unfair to dismiss a woman (at any time) or to select her for redundancy when the reason (or principal reason) for the dismissal (or selection for redundancy) is connected to her pregnancy or statutory maternity leave. It is also automatically unfair to dismiss her or select her for redundancy during OML or AML for a reason connected to the fact that she has given birth. (section 99, Employment Rights Aact 1996 and regulation 20, Maternity and Paternity Leave Regulations).

2. Secondly, even if you can't prove you were selected for redundancy based on your pregnancy, if a redundancy situation arises during an employee's maternity leave and "it is not practicable by reason of redundancy" for the employer to continue to employ her under her existing contract, the employee is entitled to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (where one is available) to start immediately after her existing contract ends (regulation 10, MPL Regulations).

This gives you (as an employee on maternity leave) priority over other employees who are also at risk of redundancy and is a rare example of lawful positive discrimination. If the employer does not comply with this requirement, the employee will have a claim for automatically unfair dismissal under section 99 of ERA 1996 (regulation 20(1), MPL Regulations) and , perhaps, sex discrimination.

When your employer offers the £18k no doubt they will want you to sign a compromise agreement. The agreement basically says you agree to accept the money, in return you will not sue the company. For the agreement to be binding, you will need to take independent legal advice. That lawyer, who should be paid for by your employer, should explain all of the above.

whitewing

Emma,

Taking legal action against your employer is a horrendous experience, even if you know you are absolutely in the right. (I did last year, and it took about 8 months to sort out to compromise agreement stage). My advice is to take the £18K having got legal advice paid for by the company, which specifies that it is to be without deduction (ie no tax etc taken off). They may well also pay for you to do a career transition course; I did this and it was excellent.

xmbcomperx

Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? If yes, contact their FREE 24/7 legal line and speak to a solicitor FREE. If you have a valid claim i.e unfair dismissal, sex discrimination etc etc and it very much sounds like you do, if it has a 51% chance of success they will take your employer to an employment tribunal on your behalf, sometimes they offer up to £50K legal cover, they will also advice you throughout the redundancy consultation process. Alternatively, before you enter the redundancy consultation process, contact a union and ask them to join and represent you.

looby-loo_2

I would take the £18k and enjoy being at home with my baby for a bit longer.

stokegal

looby-loo wrote: »

I would take the £18k and enjoy being at home with my baby for a bit longer.

Me too, I go back to work in 6 weeks, wish they'd find someone to replace me...


But to be a bit more helpful, I'd say to weight up the costs of the £18k, ie how does this equate to your monthly salary - will you find a similar job within that timescale? also if you are currently entitled to WTC - this stops when you take voluntary redundancy (I think - someone please correct me if I'm wrong) also if you were in receipt of any other benefits don't they stop if you have over £6000 in savings (again - someone please correct me if I'm wrong)