Redundancy - what steps do I take now?

sghughes42

I posted a few weeks back that I was under notice of potential redundancy - not surprisingly (there is a back-story...) that became full redundancy last week. As a result, I have a few questions!

In no particular order... My finishing date is Feb 5th. Is the date for redundancy pay calculations the date on which you are informed, or the date on which your employment ends? The reason I ask is that I believe the statutory limit usually increases each Feb 1st. As my pay is over the limit - although not be much! - if the date is the finishing date then I stand to get a slightly bigger payout than expected. Does anyone know if a figure has already been decided and if not what it is likely to be?

I will have accrued 3-4 days holiday by the end of my employment. If I take these to bring the finishing date forward, does this affect the above at all?

I am also applying for jobs elsewhere, unfortunately there don't seem to be many around at the moment though. However, should I get one, I believe I can submit a counter-notice for the redundancy. Does anyone know how often these are accepted? It will be a tricky choice between taking a job and losing a £6k+ payout or trying to hold out and hope I can find something quickly afterwards.

Again, if I do a counter-notice does this affect the date for the calculation of the payout? Although I don't suppose I'll be that bothered about a few hundred quid if I have a new job!

Now on to more practical matters.... Do I need to tell people like mortgage company, credit card companies etc at this stage, or just once I actually finish? And what impact am I likely to see when I do tell them? I have around £2k on a 0% card and a mortgage with about 12 years left to run with Nationwide, paying around £300 / month. No PPI on the credit card and the insurance on the mortgage only covers illness.

What other steps should I consider to reduce outgoings should I need to eke out my money if I can't get a job quickly? Is it worth reducing my pension contributions (company pension) to a minimum? I'm advised it is worth staying in the scheme as it includes death in service benefit, but I can reduce my contribution by about £100 a month and still stay a member.

This question may be better put on another board, but I'll try anyway. My girlfriend is planning to move to the UK next year. This has been delayed until I get a job but the main concern is the earnings requirement for me to sponsor her visa. Does the redundancy payout count towards this? If not then I need a new job PDQ otherwise we'll have to wait until I've been in it 6 months to meet the requirements again.

Other things... I run a small business in my spare time. This doesn't make much money - indeed, I've made a paper loss for all of the last three years (not done my 2011-12 accounts yet..) as I've reinvested all profits in new stock etc. How will this affect what benefits I can get once my job finishes? Will it exclude me from all benefits and what do I need to do to prove income if necessary? Do they just go on your last year tax return which can be well out of date, or do I need to do a weekly table of incomings and outgoings? Profit from the business is very variable and most is going to pay off a loan (the £2k on a 0% card...) that I took to invest in the business.

In general, any advice people can give would be very welcome, especially job-hunting tips! I've had two interviews but failed both. I did very well technically (I'm an electronic engineer) but the first one I wasn't well prepared and the second one they thought I seemed a little nervous at first which made them think I couldn't handle pressure...

Sorry for the long post and TIA!

getmore4less

redundancy payment are based on the date of termination, the service calculation is also based on that date or later if statutory notice would be later(eg in a PILON situation).

counternotice needs good reasons to be refused and when accepted resets the date and cut the notice period/payment. it also needs to be within the statutory notice period.

sghughes42

getmore4less wrote: »

redundancy payment are based on the date of termination, the service calculation is also based on that date or later if statutory notice would be later(eg in a PILON situation).

counternotice needs good reasons to be refused and when accepted resets the date and cut the notice period/payment. it also needs to be within the statutory notice period.

So if I serve my notice the payment should be higher than I've been quoted? Has the level been set for 2013 yet and if not when will it be known?

Understood about counter notice but as I say, I don't mind losing some of the payment under those circumstances! As for a good reason, the company are trying to sell the rights to the product I was working on. If I leave it will make it a lot harder to sell - would that count as a good reason to refuse, or would the view be taken that if they were serious about selling they wouldn't have made me redundant in the first place?

sghughes42

I'm guessing from the lack of replies that this query is maybe a bit too complicated for this forum?

Can anyone suggest somewhere more appropriate to ask these questions?

Thanks.

quotememiserable

I'd suggest the 700 word post was your problem. Why not do a shorter post with clearer questions and less of them. Usually gets a better response.

zzzLazyDaisy

quotememiserable wrote: »

I'd suggest the 700 word post was your problem. Why not do a shorter post with clearer questions and less of them. Usually gets a better response.

I agree. I got about a third of the way through the post and gave up when you started asking questions about benefits (which belong on a different board).

To answer your question about the limit of one week's wage for SRP purposes - I haven't heard anything, so I did a quick google, but nothing came up, so it seems likely that any rise has not yet been announced. In that case you should assume that current SRP rates apply, and if there is an announcement before your actual date of termination, then your employer should re-calculate the payment.

anamenottaken

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

I agree. I got about a third of the way through the post and gave up when you started asking questions about benefits (which belong on a different board).

To answer your question about the limit of one week's wage for SRP purposes - I haven't heard anything, so I did a quick google, but nothing came up, so it seems likely that any rise has not yet been announced. In that case you should assume that current SRP rates apply, and if there is an announcement before your actual date of termination, then your employer should re-calculate the payment.

The increase which took effect on 1 Feb 2012 was included in an SI laid before Parliament on 16 December 2011. Expect to hear something before the Christmas recess.

Added: The SI was laid before Parliament on 4 December, two days after this post. The weekly cap was increased from £430 to £450 wef 1 February 2013.

getmore4less

Missed this reply so a bit late,

sghughes42 wrote: »

So if I serve my notice the payment should be higher than I've been quoted? Has the level been set for 2013 yet and if not when will it be known?

It will depend on the last date of employement.

Understood about counter notice but as I say, I don't mind losing some of the payment under those circumstances! As for a good reason, the company are trying to sell the rights to the product I was working on. If I leave it will make it a lot harder to sell - would that count as a good reason to refuse, or would the view be taken that if they were serious about selling they wouldn't have made me redundant in the first place?

This is something you need to discuss with the company.

If you ARE that important what are they going to do if thye sell the product.

How important are you?

Remember that if they sell the product they can withdraw any redundancy and TUPE you over.

Allthough you can still leave on the timescales just loose the redundancy payments unless the new company wants to review how important you are.

zzzLazyDaisy

getmore4less wrote: »

Remember that if they sell the product they can withdraw any redundancy and TUPE you over.

Just to clarify this.

If the part of the business in which OP is employed to work, is sold on/transferred as a going concern, then yes, TUPE would apply.

However, OP referred to the employer potentially selling the rights to the product that he is currently involved in developing. If by that he means that the employer is proposing to sell the assets, pending patent, intellectual property rights, or research data, and that the work which OP is currently employed to do will cease to exist, this would result in a redundancy situation, rather than a TUPE situation.