Urgent Help Please! Redundancy Advice Needed

swisstoni69

I work for an insurance broker and my colleagues and I were called into a meeting on the 27th June and handed letters advising that possible redundancies may happen and that the consultation process would commence between the 28th June and the 8th July. As I was on holiday from the 4th July my employer sent me an email at 10:12am on the 28th June advising because of my holiday commitments he would require me to attend a meeting with him at 11:00am on the 28th June giving me a whole 48 minutes to come up with any solutions to avoid redundancy! At the consultation meeting he did offer me a role at similar role at another office they are moving to out of town subject to an interview at 10:30am on the 30th Jun. One of my colleagues also applied for the role and were interviewed the same day, he also promised he would confirm who the succesful applicant would be on the 1st July before I left on holiday. When the 1st July arrived he advised he could not make a decision that quickly and he may have something in the pipeline to avoid the redundancy happening anyway (I think he was just buying time). I returned to work today and was told I wasnt succesful in my interview and the redundancy process would now start, my question is do I have a case for tribunal here as the time he gave me for the consultation meeting was ridiculous and there was no way I had time to come up with any possible alternatives, also there was no follow up letter after the consultation meetings for any of the other staff either?

Jarndyce

Were there 20 or more redundancies proposed?

The consultation has to be meaningful - but there is no set time limit. It may be harsh but the employer is not bound to make allowances for your holidays.

swisstoni69

No there was only 3 possible redundancies

Jarndyce

Sorry just to be clear having thought about this, even where there are fewer than 20 redundancies there is still a requirement to consult individuals meaningfully.

I would guess though that the employer could argue they were making appropriate allowances for your holidays, and consulted you as fully as possible in the circumstances. You could always have sought a further meeting between 28th June and 4th July, they might say.

SarEl

Or, as I pointed out to the poster on the other board this is posted to, after 4th July. Just because a consultation period is ended does not mean that you can't suggest alternatives to redundancy if you have them. The consultation is a legal framework - nowhere does it say that the employer can't talk to you afterwards. Anyone who has an idea to mitgate their redundancy at any time has the right to suggest it to the employer - a redundancy can be withdrawn right up to the last minute of the contract, so there is nothing to loose.