Made redundant on maternity leave

skitzy75

I was made redundant on 12th june whilst on maternity leave by the business i had worked full time for for over two years. The business had been up for sale for around a year, but it was sold as a property rather than a business hence all the staff, including myself, were made redundant. we were informed about it with only a single days notice and have not received anything in writing, and the new owners have assured us they have been in the process of purchasing the business for around 5 months, so we were literally kept in the dark. I went on maternity leave at the beginning of march, just 2 weeks before my son was born, and have received 6 weeks pay at 90% of my normal wage, and have received statutory thereafter, my last pay being 6th june.
I have been told by the accountant that I have to now claim my maternity pay off the government, but my partners parents, who own a small business themselves, are adamant they should continue to pay my statutory pay as they should have received a lump sum for it when I first went on leave.
I have been looking into receiving maternity allowance online but I would need to provide my original MATB1 form, plus wage slips which I have not been receiving. I cannot get intouch with the accountant to get them, or to find out what holiday pay am owed. I was also assured I'd be paid everything I was owed eg redundancy pay two weeks ago but have not received anything. I have a baby to support now and bills to pay etc so this is obviously causing me a great deal of stress!! Does anyone have any idea where I stand with this, both legally and financially? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

SarEl

Your employer is responsible for maternity pay and redundancy pay etc. That is the place that you must go in the first instance. But if they cannot or will not pay then there is no fast solution - you will have to make a tribunal claim, or a claim to the redundancy payments service if the company is in administration. You need to contact the employer and ask for your payments immediately, explaining that they have failed to pay your m,aternity pay, failed to follow a proper redundancy consultation process, failed to provide notice of redundancy and redundancy pay, and that if they do not pay then you have no option but to take legal action. You only have 3 months less a day for making a claim.

richto

skitzy75 wrote: »

The business had been up for sale for around a year, but it was sold as a property rather than a business hence all the staff, including myself, were made redundant.

So if what you say is correct then the business was not in fact sold. The business has simply disposed of one of its assets (it's property), and therefore should have funds to pay you.

If the business itself has been sold - then the liabilties to you as an employee go with it, and the company still owes you redundancy (and likely compensation for unfair dismissal). You should establish the status of the legal entity of the company and take legal advice from an employment law solicitors.

Such a business (assuming it is a Limited company) can't be dissolved without notifying all debtors. So you need to notify the company in writing that they owe you money - although they should already be aware of the legal obligations.

If the money is taken out of the company without paying debtors by the directors then they could be guilty of misfeasance which is a serious offence.