Restructuring....job available but less money

pateroo

my mum has been told that after a restructure where she works her current job is no longer necessary. she has been told that there will be a job available, but it will be lower wage (about 4k a year).
can companies do that?? just seems totally absurd that an employer can one day turn around and remove somebodies job so that (effectively) they can save a couple of grand a year in salary payments

jdturk

pateroo wrote: »

my mum has been told that after a restructure where she works her current job is no longer necessary. she has been told that there will be a job available, but it will be lower wage (about 4k a year).
can companies do that?? just seems totally absurd that an employer can one day turn around and remove somebodies job so that (effectively) they can save a couple of grand a year in salary payments

Course they can, just have to do it in the correct way. The company does not have to offer your mum the other job if they are making her job redundant unless she is on maternity leave when they do have to even if she is not the most qualified (a stupid rule...yes!).

The company could reduce your mums salary legitimately (as long as its over NMW) a differant way so maybe her current job is not required and the company are being nice by at least offering something else

markandkate

If your mom does not want to accept she can argue that she has been made redundant and ask for a redunancy payment but if she does this and they do not agree then she may have to argue to a tribunal that she is not unreasonably refusing a suitable job.

pateroo

she hasn't currently been offered a redundancy, they have just told her that her job is gone but "not to worry" there will be a job available just on a lesser pay.
what does NMW mean?? (sorry!!)
im a teacher myself so i guess im living in a bubble about pay ....i just cant believe that its so easy to get rid of a member of staff/reduce someone's wages!!

jdturk

pateroo wrote: »

she hasn't currently been offered a redundancy, they have just told her that her job is gone but "not to worry" there will be a job available just on a lesser pay.
what does NMW mean?? (sorry!!)
im a teacher myself so i guess im living in a bubble about pay ....i just cant believe that its so easy to get rid of a member of staff/reduce someone's wages!!

Its not easy but can be done. Get her to talk to ACAS for more advice and NMW means National Minimum Wage

ceridwen

markandkate wrote: »

If your mom does not want to accept she can argue that she has been made redundant and ask for a redunancy payment but if she does this and they do not agree then she may have to argue to a tribunal that she is not unreasonably refusing a suitable job.

There are various different factors to take into account as to whether a job is an "equivalent" job that an employee can reasonably be expected to take. Some are arguable - but others are very clear. One of the ones that is very clear is that a lower-paid job is NOT considered to be an "equivalent" job and your mother therefore cannot be forced to take it.

If that is the only job that they can come up with - then they certainly arent offering her an equivalent job and she is entitled to be made redundant. The thing at issue is that she is being blackmailed by them into having a paycut if she still wishes to have a job somewhere/anywhere - as she may feel forced to take this lower-paid job if she still needs a job and doesnt rate her chances of finding another one.

So - that is her choices:
- Tell them its not an equivalent job (because its lower-paid) and that she would certainly win if they went to a Tribunal and tried to insist that it was "equivalent" and request that they hand over the redundancy money.
(At that point - I doubt they would even TRY and force the issue to a Tribunal. I doubt they are so ignorant of the law that they would think they would win).

OR

- grit her teeth and accept the lower-paid job and use it as a "base" to ask for new jobs from at her normal rate of pay (bear in mind that the employer is probably gambling that she will do exactly that - ie look for another job - and have probably calculated that "Mrs X will probably accept our lower-paid job - but she'll be gone to a new job within 6 months and we will save on paying out that redundancy money she is due." Employers often "set up" employees like this.)

grandcru52

pateroo wrote: »

she hasn't currently been offered a redundancy, they have just told her that her job is gone but "not to worry" there will be a job available just on a lesser pay.
what does NMW mean?? (sorry!!)
im a teacher myself so i guess im living in a bubble about pay ....i just cant believe that its so easy to get rid of a member of staff/reduce someone's wages!!

Sorry to burst your bubble, pateroo. It is a common misconception that teaching is 'safe'.
I am searching the forum for advice because my husband has just been informed that, due to school restructuring (falling rolls), his teaching post will no longer exist next September. He has worked at the school for 25 years and for the local education authority (Middlesbrough) for 33 years.
All that is on offer is statutory redundancy!
Local councils can legally do it too.

olly300

pateroo wrote: »

im a teacher myself so i guess im living in a bubble about pay ....i just cant believe that its so easy to get rid of a member of staff/reduce someone's wages!!

I can burst your bubble as well.

I have a teaching friend whose school was restructured while she was on maternity leave. Her job ceased to exist, all she was offered and got was statutory redundancy pay.

For her the situation wasn't too bad as she didn't want to go back to the school anyway, and her husband can afford to support her and their children.

pateroo

Thanks for all your advice!
Has certainly clarified things for my understanding. Luckily my friend is in law (employment) so i've put my mum in touch with her and hopefully mum wont be messed around too much. I know it's happening everywhere, but makes me so angry...she's worked there for over 20 years and has an excellent sickness record (ie very little) and bends over backwards to help them out. Just goes to show that loyalty counts for nothing in todays world!!!

As for the teaching comments...very useful to know, thanks! I guess the lucky thing is, regardless of the economic climate, teachers are always going to be necessary, and i'm relatively young so hopefully wouldnt struggle too much to find a new job should that nightmare occur!!

)

olly300

pateroo wrote: »

As for the teaching comments...very useful to know, thanks! I guess the lucky thing is, regardless of the economic climate, teachers are always going to be necessary, and i'm relatively young so hopefully wouldnt struggle too much to find a new job should that nightmare occur!!

)

There are a glut of teachers for primary school and for some secondary school subjects so I wouldn't bet on it.

pegginout

Crikey this OP comes on here worried about his mums job and gets criticized for saying they live in a bubble!!

They are just after advice, they arn't asking to be scolded!!!

Some people on this forum just love shooting others down.

OP I was in this position as your mum not long ago. Tell her to speak to ACAS http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1410 or the Citizens advice.

i found ACAS extremely helpful HTH