Redundancy & TOIL Holiday

_Richard__2

Hello,

I've just joined the forums, hopefully to try and find some advice.

I was made redundant on Friday after having worked for a company only just shy of three years. I had a meeting where they outlined the reasons for having to let me go, along with a breakdown of what my redundancy package was made up of.

The main problem I have is that I have 21 days of untaken TOIL holiday, which should be a cash figure of at least a grand something, yet they only want to pay out £400.

My understanding of this is that they have removed all the TOIL I earned on weekdays, and will only count the TOIL where I worked weekends. HR are claiming that a proper TOIL policy was never agreed with my former department manager, which is now shut and he long gone. I tried to point out in my meeting that it is not my fault the manager did not agree to a proper policy, so surely that is there issue for not keeping proper track of somebody they have employed as a manager.

Essentially though, my team was cut down to two people. When my colleague was ill or on holiday, in a lot of cases I had no choice but to work some stupid hours to make sure work was delivered to clients.

I feel now that I've done all this for nothing.
I've been told the only thing I can do about it is to make a written appeal to HR within the next few days, however they warned me that £400 was the maximum they are authorized to give and the company just doesn't have the money at the moment.

I'm wondering if anyone has experienced a similar issue.
Or if you know what kind of legal grounds this stands on, as I'm aware that TOIL is a company discretion type of affair, but I earned it, and they want to get away wtih giving me very little for it.

Thanks.

dickydonkin

Without further ado, I would lodge a grievance with the company - this can be done even though you are now not technically working for them. This can potentially be vital if you decide to proceed with further action such as a tribunal.

Is there a policy on TOIL? If not, where have they obtained the £400 ceiling from? Is there anything in writing that restricts accumulation such as a weekly/monthly limit on accrued TOIL?

Is there anything in writing at all relating to TOIL? How was it agreed that employees would receive TOIL as generally, such arrangements have to be agreed with employees.

Some company's manage such arrangements by implementing maximum accruals of TOIL within a certain period with 'carry overs' into another period strictly prohibited.

I suspect the company were more bothered about getting the work done at the time.

I think you have gone some way to answering your own question when you stated that the company don't have the money - based on what you have posted, they seem to be trying to avoid payment.

If in the past the company have not been restrictive on TOIL, I think that it would be difficult to now place certain criteria to avoid payment.

Your HR dept must obviously have been aware of the TOIL you were accumulating but I would suggest that because of the work needing to be done, decided not to restrict you. It seems that they have been making up the rules as they go - to your detriment unsurprisingly!

You did not mention if you are appealing against your redundancy, but you MUST lodge a grievance relating to this and if you get no joy, take them to an employment tribunal who will ultimately decide.

This may make them think again as it will cost you nothing to go to tribunal whereas it will certainly cost the company more that it owes you to defend the action.

I am sure someone on this forum will have experienced a similar situation and can provide more advice - but definately lodge your grievance.

_Richard__2

Thanks dpassmore,

I'm not appealing against my redundancy, just the payout of my TOIL holiday, which I don't believe is fair.

You are totally right, HR were well aware that we were accumulating TOIL in my department, as when our previous manager left and a new one came in, they stopped everyone logging TOIL, in order to come up with a new system... however this was never implemented before the department was shut.

I think the real issue stems from the fact that previous manager was so useless, that some employees were putting down an extra 30 minutes they worked a day, and he was approving all this without checking, so they ended up receiving an insane number of TOIL days. I however only put through the honest hours I worked, which can be accounted for.

I have to send my written appeal by Friday.
How does lodging a grievance work?

I've never had to get into any kind of dispute with an employer in the past, so I've never had to do anything like a tribunal.

dickydonkin

_Richard_ wrote: »

Thanks dpassmore,

I'm not appealing against my redundancy, just the payout of my TOIL holiday, which I don't believe is fair.

You are totally right, HR were well aware that we were accumulating TOIL in my department, as when our previous manager left and a new one came in, they stopped everyone logging TOIL, in order to come up with a new system... however this was never implemented before the department was shut.

I think the real issue stems from the fact that previous manager was so useless, that some employees were putting down an extra 30 minutes they worked a day, and he was approving all this without checking, so they ended up receiving an insane number of TOIL days. I however only put through the honest hours I worked, which can be accounted for.

I have to send my written appeal by Friday.
How does lodging a grievance work?

I've never had to get into any kind of dispute with an employer in the past, so I've never had to do anything like a tribunal.

It would appear that your company have not managed the situation which is not your fault, but you are a victim of their incompetence.

There are many templates available online for writing grievance and appeal letters such as this http://www.docstoc.com/docs/7473603/grievance-letter
and you can tailor them to fit your requirements.

If you cannot deliver the letter by hand, make sure you send it by recorded delivery and ensure that it will be delivered by the deadline. Don't forget to keep a copy of the letter.

A grievance will hopefully be considered by your former employer and if they do not find in your favour, you then have the right to appeal against that decision. By skipping the grievance procedure, this could potentially compromise your claim should you go to reclaim your money at an employment tribunal.

My only concern is that your company may not accept your grievance as an ex-employee but there is still an option open to you - see this:

If you leave a job but still have an outstanding grievance, you can pursue it using a shorter two-step procedure known as the modified procedure if:

• you and your employer agree in writing to use the modified procedure
• your employer did not know about the grievance procedure or the procedure was either not started or was started but not completed before you left the employment.

The two steps are:

• you send a written statement of grievance to your former employer
• your former employer writes back to you, answering the points you have raised.

Maybe the best plan may be to appeal as it would seem they are prepared to deal with that and then hand them the grievance letter or ask as to whether they will accept the grievance under the 'modified procedure'.

As it seems there appears to be some degree of incompetence within you former HR dept. maybe the threat of tribunal might just prompt them to reconsider as to avoid their shortcomings becominging a costly exercise.

You can take the company to tribunal without any cost to yourself. You can fill in the forms online and ACAS will get involved who will try to resolve the situation. You will also receive advice and the likelihood of success. You really have nothing to lose - just a bit of your time.

Don't give up as I suspect that is what your former employer is anticipating.

Good luck