On Notice for Redundancy - what is the law on time off to seek new employment ?

TheRealDeal_2

I asked my Union Rep and they couldn't give a straight answer, just that we are entitled to 'Reasonable' time off to seek new employment and attend interviews etc.

Can anyone give me the straight facts and / or a source to quote from ?
What is 'reasonable' ??

I would really appreciate it.


I have about 7 weeks till I'm paid off and my shady team leader doesn't like seeing anyone get anything they are entitled too, he would rather we swapped days off and used holidays but why should we do that when he have a right to take the time off ?

If we keep our holidays we will be paid them alongside the Redundancy payment which makes more sense when you are out of a job and need to survive on that money for awhile.


So hopefully someone reads this and has the info I need


Cheers !


:cool:

agrinnall

Unfortunately the law is a bit vague, only mentioning 'reasonable amount of time off':

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/Redundancy/DG_10029844

TheRealDeal_2

agrinnall wrote: »

Unfortunately the law is a bit vague, only mentioning 'reasonable amount of time off':

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/Redundancy/DG_10029844

Thats what I was afraid off ! :doh:

So that means I can't really insist on a day off here and there to job seek.

If its left to that goit of a Team leader then he will only see an hour or two off work as 'reasonable' :wall:

getmore4less

TheRealDeal wrote: »

Thats what I was afraid off ! :doh:

So that means I can't really insist on a day off here and there to job seek.

If its left to that goit of a Team leader then he will only see an hour or two off work as 'reasonable' :wall:

No days would be unreasonable so they will have to give you some.

The law say 2/5th of a weeks worth must be paid

The rest can be unpaid so you may prefer to take holiday anyway once you have done the paid allowance

I can't see with 7 weeks to go that the 2/5th of a week not being considered reasonable.


If the team leader still has a job a few grievences for being unreasonable might fix their attitude.

Badger_Lady

I'm sorry - if there are any hard-and-fast rules, I don't know them. However this is my personal interpretation:

- If you are invited to an appointment or interview and it's during work time, you tell your boss and s/he makes it happen (without deducting pay)
- If you work in an office with the internet and have the ability to search for jobs during your working day, do so.
- You can generally browse for jobs / update your CV etc on your own time.

(I also apologise for any cross-posts - my laptop is seriously playing up today and it can take me 10 minutes to post a reply!)

TheRealDeal_2

Thanks to you all for your help

getmore4less

I think the one reason for the "reasonable" is some jobs require attendance or have busy times so the expectation is some comprimise.

eg:
A courier firm might have loading/unloading in the morning which is critical to business and delivery, so arranging intrervews at that time would not be reasonable

Once the vans are out on the road would be reasonable.

londoner1998

TheRealDeal wrote: »

Thanks to you all for your help

Yes, as Badger_lady says, that was my case and didn't have any problem... could come and go as I pleased, so long as I told them. They relieved me of my duties so there was not much for me to do anyway. Then I moved contracts internally and when it was approaching my final dates, the compromise was that I wouldn't be given any campaign work (deadline driven) but I offered to help with menial admin tasks whenever I was around. They didn't like it but they knew that as they were leaving me out of a job, they had not much to say. I always made a point of turning up though, for my own dignity!
So I would say, if you have meetings or interviews , tell your bosses so that they know you won't be around- keep your nose clean.

Good luck

DominicJ_2

Time off is "reasonable".
Paid time off is two days.