Possible?

kmm5000

I have a friend who is working at the same company as me but does a different job, Basically our office has closed down so I have been made redundant however my friend has been told that his job isn't at risk so he is not entitled to redundancy. The issue is that our offices are closing down and they want my friend to work from home. Are they allowed to force him to work from home? Looking at our contract of employment there is no mobility clause in the contract. Would he be able to angle for redundancy? He really doesn't want to work for the company anymore.

I forgot to add they would also like him to go down to the Oxford branch once or twice a week (We work in Nottingham so a long way to drive)

Any help you can give will be appreciated.

heretolearn_2

Most people would see working from home as an advantage!

I'd get him to call ACAS for advice, but really the job hasn't disappeared, and as to the change of location it's one that's actually more convenient for him (home) so there's not much hope of getting a dismissal/redundancy that I can see. Re the trip to Oxford, it's not too bad, and the company no doubt will pay the travel expenses.

If he doesn't want to work for them any more, he just needs to go find himself a new job, rather than wasting time trying to wangle a redundancy out of this situation.

wontfallforit

kmm5000 wrote: »

I have a friend who is working at the same company as me but does a different job, Basically our office has closed down so I have been made redundant however my friend has been told that his job isn't at risk so he is not entitled to redundancy. The issue is that our offices are closing down and they want my friend to work from home. Are they allowed to force him to work from home? Looking at our contract of employment there is no mobility clause in the contract. Would he be able to angle for redundancy? He really doesn't want to work for the company anymore.

I forgot to add they would also like him to go down to the Oxford branch once or twice a week (We work in Nottingham so a long way to drive)

Any help you can give will be appreciated.

Hiya,

Sorry I don't know much about the law on this matter, I'm afraid.

Looks like he doesn't necessarily object to working from home, but that he simply wants to leave. Any other jobs lined up yet?

Might be an idea for him to stick out the home-working for a while, as he'd have a little bit more freedom to tweak his CV, make calls, check his email, etc. without boss breathing down his neck

Regarding the travel issue, have him ask whether or not travel costs will be reimbursed, if that's a problem for him.

kmm5000

heretolearn wrote: »

Most people would see working from home as an advantage!

I'd get him to call ACAS for advice, but really the job hasn't disappeared, and as to the change of location it's one that's actually more convenient for him (home) so there's not much hope of getting a dismissal/redundancy that I can see. Re the trip to Oxford, it's not too bad, and the company no doubt will pay the travel expenses.

If he doesn't want to work for them any more, he just needs to go find himself a new job, rather than wasting time trying to wangle a redundancy out of this situation.

He would see working from home as an advantage but him and the missus have just had twins and got a 2 year old as well so he would struggle to get much work done. Add to the fact that he likes mixing with people and he really doesn't want to work from home.

He is actively looking for a new job now but he had hoped that he may be entitled to redundancy. I will have him ring acas up and see where he goes from here.

Thanks

MrsManda

I wonder if asking him to work from home classes as a relocation of work (sorry if that sounds stupid, not sure how the law works)?
It may be possible for him to argue that the relocation (working from home) is 'unreasonable' due to his personal circumstances (twins and toddler at home).
See HERE
But calling ACAS is definitely the best thing to do to get advice.

getmore4less

Automatic potential redundancy.
The job at the location has gone.

They need to propose a suitiable alternative.

They cannot force a work from home, it would need to be a suitable alternative.

Load of ways to make this unsuitable.

No space is the easiest all rooms in the house are allocated.

Check the deeds they often have covenenats that can help(when you need them).

What about them providing a small serviced office.

A risky stratagy might be to try to negotiate better terms, good travel allowances and significant costs towards the house(eg garden office, paid for loft extention etc) but that does carry the risk they say yes but don't deliver and future tax issues.


Whats the potential redundancy package?

Savvy_Sue

getmore4less wrote: »

Whats the potential redundancy package?

As in how long has he been working for the company? At least for starters.