10 yrs with same company, been on 2 weeks notice for last 2 yrs!!

XXSCOTSLASSXX

Apologies if this is wrong place to post ... am after a bit of advice from those more in the know

My OH has worked with the same construction company for 10 years. In August 2009 all staff were issued with a '2 week notice' letter along with their wageslip.

This has continued every 2 weeks (they are weekly paid) up to the present date. Some employees left at the time of the initial notice, my OH however stayed and has been in continual work since that time, however still receiving this notice letter every 2 weeks.

We are aware that initially the notice period should have corresponded with the years he had been employed ie 8 years ..8 weeks notice...the company have stated now that this is irrelevant as the period of time they have been on notice cancels this entitlement out??

Our main concern regarding this is any redundancy payment due, someone has recently advised my OH that he will not be entitled to any redundancy for the period of time he has been on notice ie. now over 2 years...is this correct?

As this notice period has been ongoing for such a length of time, if my OH found another job during the period of notice is his employer legally bound to pay redundancy or has he in some way lost this entitlement due to the length of notice?

Is all very confusing and we have been given conflicting advice. OH has stayed in the position at the current terms as it is very well paid and he does have a considerable length of service there. At this current point in time, he is currently working away mon to friday and beginning to weigh up options closer to home, is wary of making a move tho incase he has unknowingly lost anything that was legally entitled to him.

Also is it normal for a company to have staff on notice for this length of time? All staff currently employed by the company are in the same position, yet there are current, ongoing and future contracts in place for construction work for at least the next 2 years? my OH and 1 other are currently the longest serving members of staff still employed....Staff are all beginning to get 'twitchy' understandable really considering the length of time, no one has been able to get a straight answer from the powers that be.

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated x

McKneff

First of all its the law that redundancy pay has to be paid on length of service. If he has worked for 10 full years he is entitled to
10 weeks notice and 10 weeks redundancy pay. Company policy doesn't overide the law. He would be due more redundancy pay if he is over 44 or 45 cant remember which.

Just ignore these 2 weekly notices.

For clarification ring ACAS

XXSCOTSLASSXX

McKneff wrote: »

First of all its the law that redundancy pay has to be paid on length of service. If he has worked for 10 full years he is entitled to
10 weeks notice and 10 weeks redundancy pay. Company policy doesn't overide the law. He would be due more redundancy pay if he is over 44 or 45 cant remember which.

Just ignore these 2 weekly notices.

For clarification ring ACAS

Thank you so much for your quick response x We had thought this was the case but there has been so much conflicting advice and rumours amongst the workforce things were getting very unclear, we began to wonder whether company were up to something 'sinister' lol. My OH is 38 so wouldnt be entitled to any more than the 'normal' rate.

Again thank you for your quick response

EconomicsGirl

That isn't normal at all and this is what I think is the case but I'm not an expert, hopefully someone who is will answer. The basic guidelines on redundancy are here:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/Redundancy/DG_10026616
and says there should be a consultation before notice is given.

Your husband is entilted to 8 weeks notice after this consultation and then to at least statutory redundancy pay (or higher if its in his contract). If he just gets another job he wouldn't get redundancy pay I would have thought. I would call ACAS for the exact situation. If your husband is in a trade union would be worth calling them.

XXSCOTSLASSXX

EconomicsGirl wrote: »

. If he just gets another job he wouldn't get redundancy pay I would have thought. .

ty for your comments he is home this evening and will call ACAS in the morning.

With regards to the comment above we had assumed when on notice if you found another job during that time, you were still entitled to full redundancy pay as you are legally allowed to have time off from employment to search for a new position? are u unable to take up any position until notice period is over and employment has ended?

getmore4less

Do the letters say redundancy?

XXSCOTSLASSXX

getmore4less wrote: »

Do the letters say redundancy?

Yes states is notice of redundancy, to be honest after the 1st few we havent really paid much attention to them as are now so regular, its just with him working away and looking to move position closer to home we need to find out his right to his redundancy etc before making any decisions.

Starrystarrynight

I'm trying to remember back to when I was made redundant. I'm pretty sure that anyone who found another job and left before the actual date of redundancy wasn't entitled to redundancy pay.

XXSCOTSLASSXX

Starrystarrynight wrote: »

I'm trying to remember back to when I was made redundant. I'm pretty sure that anyone who found another job and left before the actual date of redundancy wasn't entitled to redundancy pay.

:eek: so the fact that they are essentially 'rolling' over this notice every two weeks... he receives the same letter every 2 weeks dated the day the previous notice is due to end..... they kind of have him 'over a barrel' really ... the working conditions have deteriorated lately too, they no longer receive travelling time, or accommodation costs while they are working away they have been supplied with a porta cabin and advised if they dont like they are free to leave at any time... they also had to sign a 40 hr disclaimer, and are currently working 12 hrs per day mon to friday again have been advised if they not happy they free to leave... can see why the company may be issuing this continually if what you say is correct and they leave of their own accord in the notice time they not entitled to any redundancy :eek:

Will get him to call ACAS in morning and get this cleared up ty for advice x

getmore4less

XXSCOTSLASSXX wrote: »

Yes states is notice of redundancy, to be honest after the 1st few we havent really paid much attention to them as are now so regular, its just with him working away and looking to move position closer to home we need to find out his right to his redundancy etc before making any decisions.

I think you would have a reasonable chance of getting redundancy if you issued counternotice.

Just make sure they don't find out there is a potential job offer n the horizon.

If they refused to pay(wich is the likely outcome), not sure if it would be best to go to an ET with the last notice given or a fist full from the last 2 years.

Might even be possible wih a suitable start date in the future to get them to pay some/all of the 10weeks statutory notice along with the redundancy.

The 2 years worth of 2 weeks notice is a clear indiation they are not taking employment seriously

AS this is very much a not standard situation and the employer has allready indicated they are not expecting to meet their obligation legal advice should be taken.

Might need carefully worded counternotice to get them to take it seriously

ceridwen

I know that, by law, there is a proscribed period of "consultation" if there are a certain number of redundancies proposed - currently 90 days worth of "consultation" before "notice" can be issued of redundancy for firms over a certain size (think its 100 staff?????).

Dont know how big OH's firm is - as to what, if anything, they would have to give as "consultation" period time prior to "notice" period time.

My thoughts are that maybe this continual issuing and re-issuing of a notice period might be something to do with the firm trying to get round a requirement for "consultation period" time??

I think the firm must realise that peoples redundancy pay if/when it actually comes to it has to (by law) be based on their "length of service" and its not possible for the firm to "stop the clock" and "hold the Length of Service employees have in suspended animation" whilst this malarkey is going on. So - I wouldnt think an attempt to try to say "Length of Service" of the staff is shorter than it actually is is the reason the firm is playing silly b*****s like this. It must be for some other reason. Probably the firms main reason for the malarkey is to keep the staff on tenterhooks in the hope that steadily more and more of them will feel pressurised into applying for jobs elsewhere - just in order to get some certainty in their worklife.

In this situation - I'd hold out and hold out and hold out personally and wait for them to either stop playing "silly b******s" or hand over redundancy pay (whichever of those two scenarios came up first).