Work being moved to India advice please

crombiestone

Hi

I work for an I.T. outsourcing company which I was TUPE transferred into in 2003 . Since the TUPE I have continued to work in the same job but for the new employers. The I.T. contract has recently been re-negotiated and has resulted in my work being offshored to the Indian branch of the company .

The company has a redeployment policy but job opportunities in the same region are almost non existent .No redundancy has been offered but I have been offered a Compromise Agreement which ,after refusing the first 2 offers,now equates to 1.5 weeks salary for each year worked incorporating statutory redundancy and PILON .There is no company policy on redundancy (all are individual negotiations )though my offer is slightly less (about £3K) than the previous voluntary redundancies offered 2 years ago to other staff

I also have a protected retirement payment age of 50 ,if made redundant, with 23 years contibutions into a final salary pension (I'm currently 41).I have been assured that this protection will continue after the govt legislation changes on April 6th but the company are pressuring me to sign the compromise agreement by March 31st. I'm not in a union and I'm feeling very alone about it all .

My financial commitments are minimal i.e no mortgage or debts and I have a property abroad which I could retire to (is 41 too young to retire ?) .

Should I expect a better payout or risk being redeployed in a job which I dont like or involves working away from home and perhaps still facing redundancy with a worse offer further down the line? Should I take my pension at 50 ?Should I take the offer and just pack my bags and head off to the sun ?

Any advice greatfully received.

olly300

The best advice I can give you is go and see an employment solicitor.

They should be able to give you a free 30 minute consultation but the rest of it you will have to pay for. If you have an insurance policy which give would pay for free legal advice I suggest you ring them first and today to see if they would cover these costs.


BTW if you are signing what is legally a "Compromise Agreement" the other side has to pay up to £250 towards the cost of an employment solicitor having a look at the agreement. So I would get it in writing from your employer that it is actually a compromise agreement asap. If they refuse to do so and the agreement has the words "Compromise Agreement" on it you can later sue them for damages due to them preventing you getting impartial legal advice.

crombiestone

olly300 wrote: »

The best advice I can give you is go and see an employment solicitor.

They should be able to give you a free 30 minute consultation but the rest of it you will have to pay for. If you have an insurance policy which give would pay for free legal advice I suggest you ring them first and today to see if they would cover these costs.


BTW if you are signing what is legally a "Compromise Agreement" the other side has to pay up to £250 towards the cost of an employment solicitor having a look at the agreement. So I would get it in writing from your employer that it is actually a compromise agreement asap. If they refuse to do so and the agreement has the words "Compromise Agreement" on it you can later sue them for damages due to them preventing you getting impartial legal advice.

Thanks Olly

I have an apointment with a solicitor tomorrow . I am also waiting for a reply from my employer re reimbursement for the solicitors costs . They have verbally said its a compromise agreement but I have no written documents .I should have these on Wednesday

dampsquib

crombiestone wrote: »

There is no company policy on redundancy (all are individual negotiations)

You mentioned you'd TUPE'd to this company. They might not have a policy, but did your last company? Any terms they had would have been protected by TUPE on transfer, so unless you've given them up by changing contracts, or had them negotioated away, they should still apply to you, should you ever be made redundant (& all your service with both companies would count in the claculations).

crombiestone wrote: »

I'm not in a union and I'm feeling very alone about it all .

No help to you, but I hope your plight encourages others to join their union!

crombiestone wrote: »

(is 41 too young to retire ?) .

Personally, I don't think any age is too young. The only question is are you lucky enough to be able to afford to go that early?