Is this legal??

josephine1888

Hi there,

Long story so I will try to shorten it as much as possible.

Found out in November that our office is shutting down. Was told no decision was made about our jobs. There are 3 departments based at our office, 1 department is getting made redundant and the other is moving to a different office. They are all going at the end of March.

Today seen that there was some interviews going on and found out that there is a job in the new office and it was only advertised externally - no internal vacancy at all. One of the Temps working in the office was told about the job and she applied for it and it looks like she has got it.

Can they advertise externally without advertising internally - especially when redundancy is on the horizon?

I am 20 weeks pregnant and there is a 95% chance I will get made redundant.

Many thanks

vintage_beanpole

When making people redundant, there is a legal obligation on an employer to consider whether alternative employment can be offered to that individual. Therefore, if you are saying that there were people who were made redundant who would have been suitable to take that post (reasonable qualifications and experience) then, yes, that is indeed a problem.

vintage_beanpole

Oh, and by the way, you're probably aware of this, but a redundancy dismissal due to pregnancy is an automatically unfair redundancy dismissal. No question of fairness enters into it. If you're made redundant but it's not because of the fact of your pregnancy then that's just a normal redundancy situation and you can question it's legitimacy by looking at whether it was fair. A woman made redundant whilst on maternity leave must be offered any suitable vacancy, no matter how inconvenient for an employer. Otherwise it's automatically unfair. Redundancy selection due to pregnancy may also be sex discrimination.

getmore4less

How many people were involved in Nov potentialy closure and redundancy situation?

If 20 or more then it should have been collective and the reps should be dealing with this issue as part of consultation.

josephine1888

I have applied for flexible working from home so that I dont have to take that much Mat leave. This wouldnt be a problem in my current role but I have a feeling they may offer me a different post but make it that I cant work from home. My meeting is on Tuesday to find out if my current post will be accepted for flexible working - I just feel that they are going to put obsticales in my way to make me take redundancy.

I feel that if an other position is available in the company then they should give me and everyone else the oppertunity to apply for it.

getmore4less - There are roughly about 28 people who were in the office in November when it was announced that the office was closing - all we were told was no decision was made about who was going where and who was getting made redundant. Like I say - come April there will only be about 7 of us left that havent been told what we are doing. A part time worker in my department has just been asked to increase her hours and another worker has been given a lot more work to take on. I think they may outsource the work that I do and just get the feeling that everyone else is getting more work to do so they can justify keeping them on.

I know it is all hear say but I have been hanging in limbo since November now and when I see all this going on around me I feel that I am being set up!!

vintage_beanpole

I would suggest that if you are made redundant you contact the Free Representation Unit. I'm not sure if you can do this directly or whether you will have to be referred by a Citizens Advice Bureau. They consist of qualified volunteers, such as myself, who provide free Employment Tribunal representation.

p00hsticks

josephine1888 wrote: »

Today seen that there was some interviews going on and found out that there is a job in the new office

So would you be able to work from the new office ? Have they asked you if you would be prepared to relocate to the new office if necessary?

Premier_2

josephine1888 wrote: »

...I feel that if an other position is available in the company then they should give me and everyone else the oppertunity to apply for it.

Is there any reason that you can't apply for a position they are advertising for, even if they are advertising externally?

josephine1888 wrote: »

... I think they may outsource the work that I do ...

If the work that you do is going to be outsourced, then your role within the company is redundant, sorry.

The company should look to re-deploy you if possible but if your skills & competencies do not match their requirements of any new roles they are seeking to fill, they will of course look externally for more suitable candidates which is what they appear to be doing.

josephine1888

Premier wrote: »

Is there any reason that you can't apply for a position they are advertising for, even if they are advertising externally?

Only found out that there was a job yesterday and I have been told that a temp working in that dept was asked to interview for it and she has been told today that she has got the job.

Policy states - To support equal opportunity in employment, all vacancies within the company will be advertised internally. Wherever necessary, vacancies will also be advertised externally!!