Please help, letter from husbands boss!

Nearlyuseless

Hi, I hope someone can help please, my husband recieved a letter from his boss this morning and he hasn't been able to contact his boss to ask him about it. I can't find a way to paste the letter into here so I will type it in and could you please let me know what it sounds like to you and if my husbands boss is in the wrong for writing it. Sorry I hope that makes sense. Here is what the letter said.

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Re: Work.

We have tried to contact you a number of times by telephone but your mobile is switched off and we do not have a land-line number for you.

As of today we have men tidying the yard. One drilling contract is clearing site today and onother is clearing site tomorrow, neither of which have sites to go onto. It looks therefore as if we are going to have to implement a short working week and wanted to give you the opportunity, while on leave, to see if you could find alternative employment. We do not need the van at this time and you may therefore use it as necessary to search for work.

Perhaps you could ring the office as soon as you receive this letter as things can change but in your absence, we wanted to give you as much notice as possible about the current work situation.

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My husband hurt his knee very badly last wednesday and the doctor said to have a few days off work, so he asked his boss for a weeks holiday to make sure his knee was rested as he does heavy manual work.
My husband has rung his boss but he is out of the office all day and my husband won't phone his mobile because it keeps breaking up.
My husband asked me to ask for advice here so that he can have some idea of what to say to his boss, he thinks that the letter reads like he has been given the boot and if he has he should have been told in the office face to face with his boss and redundancy should have been mentioned.
My husband is extremely hard working and has about 3 sick days off in the 5 years that he has worked for this man. He is also a formen there.
Also isn't there a thing about last in first out.
Any advice you can give will be very gratefully recieved, thank you in advance.
I'm sorry that this post is so long.

Chris

Bean_Counter

The letter says that he has been put on short time working, as opposed to laid off or made redundant. Your husband needs to find out the details e.g. is he working 4 days a week, 3 days a week and I would expect that his pay is being reduced pro-rata. How long does the boss expect it to last for.

Either the letter is giving him a heads up to look for another job and the prospects are not good or he is using it as a way to ease him out of the company.

What ever happens he needs to speak to his boss or someone else in authority as soon as possible.

We are going the same scenario of pay cuts, lay offs etc at the moment.

Nearlyuseless

Thanks very much for your quick reply Bean Counter, my husband just thought that it was a very poor way of telling him this.
My husband spoke to his boss Thursday and everything ok then recieved this letter. His boss could have found our number in the phone book, or at least told my husband that he had something important to tell him and ask him into the office, and tell him what is happening to his face.
I suppose nothing can be done until my husband speaks to his boss really.
Thank you very much for your advise it has helped.

Chris

Bean_Counter

Let us know what happens and whether he is put on short time, laid off or made redundant to make sure he gets what he is entitled to under the different rules and ensure that he is treated properly.

When your husband speaks to his boss he should be asking things like how the order book is, are all the other employees in the same position as he is, what money will he be getting and when etc.

It does sound as though looking for another job should also be a top priority. However I work in the construction industry (I presume your husband does too) and I know how difficult that can be at the moment.

Raggs_2

Sounds to me as if the business is struggling, and the boss has kindly told your husband to take advantage of his time off to look for another job (if he doesn't want reduced hours), allowing him to use the business van to do so.

Nearlyuseless

Thanks again Bean Counter, My husband used to be a hod carrier and then a heavy plant driver as self employed, but now he is putting water tanks into the ground. His boss should have lots of orders but charges too much so loses orders. I will let you know what happens and thanks once again for your very useful advice. Chris

Thanks for your reply Raggs but my husbands boss is not that considerate. He has just taken on a nephew of his who has been working with my husband and he spends a lot of time on the golf course and on holiday, so we don't think that he is that short of money.
When my husband is on holiday from work he always has use of the van which makes the letter sound even stranger. Thanks again for your reply. Chris

Mudd14

I would read up on short time working, is their a clause in your husbands contract about this?

Short time working can only go on for 6 weeks continious weeks (or 6 in any 13), after that you can claim redundancy pay from the employer.

I wouldnt just accept anything that the boss says as it doesnt sound like he has that much knowledge around the issues.

Nearlyuseless

Thanks very much Mudd14 that's very good advice, we will read up on it. Your right about my husbands boss not knowing much about the issues, you wouldn't think that he has his own business and is in his 50s. My husband will ring him tomorrow and then we will know more and be able to think what to do. Thanks again.

Nearlyuseless

Hi Bean Counter, Just to let you know that my husband rang his boss and his boss said that he didn't have any work at all and that he is giving everyone a short working week.
He said that my husband could do that also but that he thought my husband wouldn't like that so perhaps he would prefer to look for another job.
My husband mentioned volantary redundancy and his boss said oh yes I'll see my wife about that (she does the wages), he then rang my husband back later in the day and offered him redundancy money, which seemed very good, or he said my husband could still take the short week offer.
He said not to give him an answer now but to go to the office Friday and tell him what he is going to do then.
I think my husband is going to take the redundancy money to tied us over until he can get another job. So hopefully his boss seems to be doing things right after all (touch wood). Thanks once again though for all your help, it's nice to know that there are people like you and some other people on here willing and able to help others.

Chris

Bean_Counter

I guess your husband has to assess given his knowledge of the business how long the short time working would go on. Since he has chosen the redundancy, use this redundancy calculator to make sure that he is getting at least the legal minimum. He needs to ask about working or being paid his notice period and also any accrued holiday pay he might be due.

Good luck for the future.