Redundant but no leaving date?!

renowen

Hi Im looking for some advice for a friend of mine.

He has suspected for some time that he may be made redundant (boss warned staff ages ago this may happen).
Finally about a week ago his boss came to his house and told him he was being made redundant and gave him a letter confirming this. However the letter never stated a leaving date.

He has spoken to his boss about it today and hasnt been given one, in fact his boss actually said that he 'hadnt actually been made redundant yet' ??!!

My friends becoming very annoyed about this because, without a leaving date he cant really look for another job as he does not know when he will be able to start!

Is there anything my freinds can do or anyone he should talk to?

Many thanks

getmore4less

What does the letter say?

SarEl

I am afraid that there is very little that your firend can do other than ask the employer for a redundancy date. Whilst he may have been selected for redundancy, until he is formally served notice he is not actually redundant - he remains "at risk". However, once he is given notice in writing, he may then serve counter notice during his notice period if he obtains other employment, and he will be entitled to leave earlier and still be paid his redundancy pay, although his notice pay would be reduced to reflect the shorter notice period.

Given that he has a short period of service (so not a great deal of redundancy pay is due), then I would suggest that he not delay looking for another job. He may, by the time he gets one, have been already served the formal notice - but if he hasn't then I would have to say that passing up on a good job for the sake of a smallish amount of redundancy may be short-sighted in todays climate.