Redundancy help

bobhail

Hi Please advise on the following situation........
Both myself and a colleague have been advised that we are at risk of redundancy and a decision will be made by the end of the week. I am currently a buyer and a stores operative and am extremely busy all the time. I have suffered various bouts of stress and am currently medication to help me sleep.
My colleagues job is production supervisor.
The company have said they are combining both the roles. The new role is impossible for one person to carry out. I dont understand how they can create a new role thats impossible which will probably end up making the "winner" very ill through stress. The new job description is based around the supervisor role more than buyer / storeman yet my role will take up 80%+ of the time. I believe due to me suffering from stress i am being unfairly treated.
Have i a case for unfair dismissal as the company know i will not apply for the new position due to the workload and stress??

bobhail

Anyone??? if i have no chance please let me know and i'll forget the idea!

Ewarwoowar2

If the company genuinely believe that the roles can be combined, it's very difficult to challenge a management decision.

Are other jobs at risk of redundancy or just yours? Do you have any suspicion that the redundancy has been engineered to get rid of you?

In relation to the stress point, companies owe a general duty of care to their staff, but in the real world jobs get combined in times of need and people have to cope. If you are offered the job and think it will make you ill, perhaps let them know.

jdturk

bobhail wrote: »

Hi Please advise on the following situation........
Both myself and a colleague have been advised that we are at risk of redundancy and a decision will be made by the end of the week. I am currently a buyer and a stores operative and am extremely busy all the time. I have suffered various bouts of stress and am currently medication to help me sleep.
My colleagues job is production supervisor.
The company have said they are combining both the roles. The new role is impossible for one person to carry out. I dont understand how they can create a new role thats impossible which will probably end up making the "winner" very ill through stress. The new job description is based around the supervisor role more than buyer / storeman yet my role will take up 80%+ of the time. I believe due to me suffering from stress i am being unfairly treated.
Have i a case for unfair dismissal as the company know i will not apply for the new position due to the workload and stress??

As above, if there is a genuine business reason they can do it, just because you have been for stress (which I don't think is protected under the disability act) does not mean you are immune from this procedure.

Also unsurprisingly you are not going to turn around and go 'yeah my jobs been a doddle and I could do the other work' are you? Also just because a store is busy does not mean it is profitable which at the end of the day is what most businesses try and do and if this means cutting costs then it has to be done (is it a multi national? they may have tried this other places and seen it be successful)

However if you feel they are trying to get rid of you and are using this a mask then talk to either your union or ACAS for proper advice.

bobhail

Cheers for the advice!
Stress is covered under the disability act!

Being honest i am busy 90% of the time and as i said my role will take up 80%+ of the time of the new role yet it has been written towards the supervisor role. I'll wait and see what happens the end of the week.

jdturk

I apologise, I thought stress was not covered because Anxiety/Depression which is often part of stress is covered.

Obviously you have a biased view which is fair enough but as I said if you think things are being done wrong then speak to your union if you are in one and if not speak to ACAS

jdturk

I've had a look and been onto Direct.gov and Mind (mental health charity). I cannot see anything stating stress on its own is covered under the disability act. I suspect as I thought that if it is an increased level of stress there are other things involved such as anxiety and depression which leads to it being covered.

It should be noted that Direct.gov states

'For example, someone with a mild form of depression with only minor effects may not be covered'

So on its own it may not be covered....it all depends on the levels

Debt_Free_Chick

They could go on to create a more junior/assistant role ...

smartpicture

I'm not trying to offend you when I tell this story, but we used to employ a girl full-time who suffered from stress & anxiety, which she in part attributed to how over-worked she was, even after various adjustments had been made. Eventually she chose to leave as she was getting married. After she'd been gone for a few weeks, we realised that we didn't actually need a replacement because other people naturally took over little bits of her role and frankly it was hard to see what she'd been doing all day.

I don't mean you're not a hard worker, but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes when you're not mentally at the top of your game, a job that would take an hour under normal circumstances might take much longer. Or even if that's not true in your case, that may be how the management are viewing it.

There may be some mileage in preparing a full list of everything you actually undertake in your role, in case they not appreciated the full extent of the role. Or it may be that they have decided they just want to get rid of you and are taking this route to do it.

The other thing to consider is - if your current role is making you stressed and anxious, maybe leaving this job could be a good thing for you in the long-term, if it pushes you into looking for a different job - without the blemish of having left this one for stress-related reasons. Obviously much depends on whether you would be paid enough redundancy to tide you over until you could find another job. You need to consider your overall health and happiness, and your current employer doesn't seem to be helping either of these.

bobhail

smartpicture wrote: »

I'm not trying to offend you when I tell this story, but we used to employ a girl full-time who suffered from stress & anxiety, which she in part attributed to how over-worked she was, even after various adjustments had been made. Eventually she chose to leave as she was getting married. After she'd been gone for a few weeks, we realised that we didn't actually need a replacement because other people naturally took over little bits of her role and frankly it was hard to see what she'd been doing all day.

I don't mean you're not a hard worker, but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes when you're not mentally at the top of your game, a job that would take an hour under normal circumstances might take much longer. Or even if that's not true in your case, that may be how the management are viewing it.

There may be some mileage in preparing a full list of everything you actually undertake in your role, in case they not appreciated the full extent of the role. Or it may be that they have decided they just want to get rid of you and are taking this route to do it.

The other thing to consider is - if your current role is making you stressed and anxious, maybe leaving this job could be a good thing for you in the long-term, if it pushes you into looking for a different job - without the blemish of having left this one for stress-related reasons. Obviously much depends on whether you would be paid enough redundancy to tide you over until you could find another job. You need to consider your overall health and happiness, and your current employer doesn't seem to be helping either of these.

I completely understand and appreciate what you are saying. Since being told i was at risk i seemd to cope a lot better - stress seemed to disapear!! The latest is i have now been chosen for redundancy and will now go through 3 weeks of consultation i.e. job share etc. After this they are going to pay me three weeks wage upfront (£4500) and my redundancy (£5000) to sit at home as long as i sign saying i will not come back and try and sue etc
My new question is.....as they are paying me my three months notice to stay at home on garden leave am i able to start work elsewhere?? financially i will be OK out of a job but my brain needs something to make it tick so i dont plan on sitting round doing nothing or watching jeremy kyle!!

annie-c

If they have talked about signing a compromise agreement then they are obliged to pay a reasonale contribution for you to have some independent legal advice to run through the agreement and its implications with you.

You do need formal advice on this. As a starting point you could try Citizen's advice to make sure your employer is doing things properly.

There are ways that an agreement can be drawn up so as not to put you on 'gardening leave' but to allow you to begin new work as soon as you find it. As long as your role doesn't involve a great deal of commercially sensitive or otherwise privileged information then there is probably no reason for them to refuse such a request, but, again, please get formal advice (free in the first instance from CAB) and don't just rely on what random punters like me have said on the internet. I speak from experience but not from a position of expertise.

Hugs to you, it is a tough time but it looks like you will have some financial security at least. Hope you start to feel better in yourself soon.