Redundancy Query

SaverT

Hi all,

I am hoping for some advice however don't want to give too much info as a suspect others involved may read this.

Very breifly, I am likely to be made redundant soon. There is a precendent in my company of someone leaving with an enhanced package.

If I were to be made redundant without as good a package as the precedent (I am more senior and have been here longer then the individual referred to) what would be the liklihood of winning at a tribunral?

I appreciate without more detail it's impossible to answer for sure, I just want to get an idea if I'm completely wasting my time

Thanks

Pricivius

Okay, well, the first thing to be clear on is what it says in your contract/handbook regarding redundancy - what is the company's policy?

Whatever it says, that is what you are entitled to. If it suggests discretionary, then the company can use their discretion; if it says statutory redundancy or some other calculation then that is what you are entitled to.

As for someone else receiving more, it's a difficult argument to run at Tribunal. You are simply asking the Tribunal to award you more because the other bloke got more. All the company would have to do is explain why it gave the other bloke more - this could be for any number of reasons, such as he had a company car which they compensated for the loss of, he had a different contract to you which gave him a better redundancy package, he was entitled to greater bonus, he signed a compromise agreement, the company was in a stronger financial position back then etc...

You may also be starting trouble for the other bloke - was his package confidential so he should not have told you? are you sure he got what he claims to have got? did he sign a compromise agreement which was worth more to the company because he had a potential claim?

I would check out the position in the contract/handbook and see what they offer you before thinking about suing them!

SaverT

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

What you say makes sense, it's easy to get caught up in things when it has a personal impact and therefore not see the issue objectively.

To answer your queries, I know for sure exactly what he got as I was involved in processing the payment. I challenged it at the time as is wasn't in line with other payments which had been made and got a response along the lines of ' we are a responsible company who look after our employees, particularly our senior employees etc etc'. As you say this comes down to discretion and the company behaving in a generous manner - something I dont think will happen any longer.

I need to check in the handbook although I expect it says something along the lines of 'payment will be made in accordance to law'.

It looks like i should expect the worst:(