Entitlement to redundancy payment

g4lsx

Hi, hope someone may be able to help..
I was put on 12 weeks notice by my employer (shop chain) as they are closing the branch due to rent/lease costs and while on that notice managed to get another job that is just around the corner from my old one.

I sent my notice to head office, but before they received that they rang me to say they have found another store and offered me a job there. But the store is 12 miles and 23 mins from the old one and entails a drive over a toll bridge with a £110 a month charge.

Also, I work on commission and the new store is a quarter of the size of the old one (cheap rent) and I don't belive I would be able to earn the same as in the old store.

Out of three salesmen at the old store, they only want one now as it's smaller.. one of my collegues who had handed in his notice before me has been told he is getting his redundancy payment.

I explained to the HR dept that I find the new offer unacceptable, and would like redundancy, but they say even under notice, if they find alternative premises or I find a job with another company then I
would lose my redundancy payment.

Obviously I don't find it fair when one of my collegues has been offered it and he had found himself a new job..

I have been with this company for nearly 24 years..

Any ideas or advice as to how to try to get my payment would be appriciated..

Cheers

Jarndyce

g4lsx wrote: »

Hi, hope someone may be able to help..
I was put on 12 weeks notice by my employer (shop chain) as they are closing the branch due to rent/lease costs and while on that notice managed to get another job that is just around the corner from my old one.

I sent my notice to head office, but before they received that they rang me to say they have found another store and offered me a job there. But the store is 12 miles and 23 mins from the old one and entails a drive over a toll bridge with a £110 a month charge.

Also, I work on commission and the new store is a quarter of the size of the old one (cheap rent) and I don't belive I would be able to earn the same as in the old store.

Out of three salesmen at the old store, they only want one now as it's smaller.. one of my collegues who had handed in his notice before me has been told he is getting his redundancy payment.

I explained to the HR dept that I find the new offer unacceptable, and would like redundancy, but they say even under notice, if they find alternative premises or I find a job with another company then I
would lose my redundancy payment.

Obviously I don't find it fair when one of my collegues has been offered it and he had found himself a new job..

I have been with this company for nearly 24 years..

Any ideas or advice as to how to try to get my payment would be appriciated..

Cheers

If you have worked there 24 years it is certainly worth trying to keep your entitlement to a redundancy payment intact!

Firstly, whether the alternative role the company has found for you is suitable or not depends on a number of factors. Do you have a mobility clause in your contract for example? If you can prove that your wages would drop significantly that would also be a factor in determining its unsuitableness. The extra travel costs is another good point. If it is unsuitable then you can turn it down and still get your payment. However you say you have already found another job.

There are quite complex rules on serving counter-notice while under notice for redundancy. Unless someone can explain them more succinctly than I could you're probably best advised to seek advice from an employment lawyer (a free half hour should do it) who can untangle your situation and advise you what to do to get your payment.

Good luck.

unholyangel

Googlewhacker wrote: »

If the OP resigns though and takes on the new job at this other place he wouldn't be able to get redundancy as he has resigned surely?

If the OP was not going to this other job and the company offered the above I would have thought the only thing that is not reasonable is the £110 toll charge (the distance and time are reasonable as long as you have a car which from your post I presume they have and the commision is irrelivant as its not guaranteed)

Hmmm i'm not so sure about the distance, its basically adding on 120 miles a week that could be another £20-£40 a week depending on what type of car you have, how you drive and how traffic/roadworks are. If you're earning £1000 a week, £20 is nothing off that really. But if you're only earning £200 after tax, thats 10%. I suppose it all depends on whether you have disposable income.

OP you could agree to try it on a trial basis.

McKneff

I sent my notice to head office,

If you have resigned, you are not entitled to any redundancy paymnet.

Jarndyce

Googlewhacker wrote: »

If the OP resigns though and takes on the new job at this other place he wouldn't be able to get redundancy as he has resigned surely?

If the OP was not going to this other job and the company offered the above I would have thought the only thing that is not reasonable is the £110 toll charge (the distance and time are reasonable as long as you have a car which from your post I presume they have and the commision is irrelivant as its not guaranteed)

Hence my pointing him in the direction of the statutory counter notice provisions - if these are met he can still get the payment.

nomoneytoday

I would employ the services of an employment expert / solicitor, rather than a free Money saving forum.

Jarndyce

nomoneytoday wrote: »

I would employ the services of an employment expert / solicitor, rather than a free Money saving forum.

Yes - as I suggested in Post 2.

That's not to say that the advice given on here (when people give advice who know what they're talking about) is not for the most part reliable and almost always well-meant.

Not many people know about the redundancy counter-notice provisions and I suspect many a redundancy payment has been lost as a result. It might be too late for the OP, or the position may be rescuable. The earlier he/she gets advice the better.

SarEl

Counter notice is easy - not sure why anyone would need to be an expert to explain it. Counter-notice can only be served whilst within the STATUTORY notice period. To calculate when this is you take the notified termination date from your employer (the last date you will be actually in their employment - your redundancy date) and count backwards from that date the number of weeks statutory notice that you are entitled to - in your case 12 weeks. You can serve counternotice from that point onwards. Not that that will entirely help you if your employer is saying that they have offered you suitable alternative employment and will refuse to pay redundancy if you refuse it - are they actually saying that? Because if that happens counter-notice or not, you may have to go to a tribunal to get any payment - if a tribunal agrees with you that the job is not suitable.But I agree with the others - this is not clear cut in your favour. 12 miles is frankly nothing and you will quite certainly not win on this one. The current "rough guide" to additional travel distances is up to 50 miles unless there are good causes why not. The toll charges may contribute - but again, not clear cut. And the employer is actually only required to offer a job on the same terms and conditions - that means the basic wage, not what you might earn in commission and bonuses, because the fact that you may or may not earn the same is guessing and nothing else.I think the key to this is whether, if pressed, the company are prepared to fight over this - if they are I do not think anyone could give you a cast iron guarantee that you would win a tribunal. If your were my client then I certainly wouldn't.

g4lsx

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to help. I know it's not clear cut, but I was happy where I was, and it was the company who put me on 12 weeks notice. There was little chance of them finding an alternative posistion at the time, hence me hunting another job. I assumed incorrectly I guess, that once I was under company notice, my redundancy payment was secure. What seems strange though, is a workmate in the same store and job who found a job elsewhere HAS been told he is going to get paid up untill he starts his new job and WILL get his redundancy payment. His ammount would be less than mine because of the time in the company, but surely the princiable is the same?

SarEl

Perhaps though he did serve counter-notice? But certainly, it would appear that they haven't found him another job, so the situation is not the same.

g4lsx

Although I have given them my notice, so I guess that is counter notice as I sent it
Within my company notice of 12 weeks.
My workmate did the same, we hold the same position job wise.
They only need one salesman at the new store, so I don't feel it's
Reasonable to choose him over me because he
Is cheaper to offer redundancy too...