Redundancy Entitlement whilst off sick

fred98

post removed.

fred98

post removed.

mcfisco

One of the selection criteria used for scoring when I was at risk last year was employees sickness record.
I guess you'll have to wait to see what they use and how they weight each criteria before being able to judge how much of an impact it'll be on your score.

zzzLazyDaisy

fred98 wrote: »

1. How will my sickness be perceived during the selection criteria?
2. Assuming I am unsuccessful, would my redundancy package be calculated any differently than that of my colleagues (due to my long term sickness).
3. Given that voluntary redundancy is not on offer, and I do not feel up to attending an interview, what are my rights as far as this goes.
4. Could I legally be dismissed on grounds of capability with no redundancy payment?
5. Is it dangerous ground to request voluntary redundancy if it has not been declared as generally available?

It might help if you get your mind round what is happening. As you say this is a large employer, I am going to presume that they are following the proper procedure. Which means that what you say in your OP - that the whole team was made redundant, and is now applying for fewer jobs, is probably a misunderstanding. What is much more likely is that the whole team has been put at risk of redundancy and placed in a pool for selection. This may seem like semantics, but it isn't as the legal position is quite different.

What this means now, is that there will be 1:1 consultations with all affected employees, before any final decisions are made. They will almost certainly have already completes the selection matrix, and you are entitled to see the criteria and how you scored - but you are not entitled to see the scoring for your colleagues.

The point of the 1:1 is for you to raise any issues that you wish the employer to take into account in coming to their final decision, and to bring to their attention any issues you consider to be important (eg, say you have scored badly on disciplinary criteria as they have mistakenly marked you down as having a warning on your file).

There is no legal requirement on the employer to allow employees to be accompanied at the consultation meetings, but many will allow this.

You should have had a letter explaining all this.

So going back to your questions:

1. How will my sickness be perceived during the selection criteria?

Who knows - it varies from one employer to another, so you will need to examine the selection criteria, and discuss your concerns at the consultation meeting if appropriate. Most employers will take into account sickness absence, but special rules come into play if your illness is considered to be a disability under the Equality Act 2010

2. Assuming I am unsuccessful, would my redundancy package be calculated any differently than that of my colleagues (due to my long term sickness).

Again, it is difficult to say, as we do not know if the payment is contractual or statutory redundancy pay. SRP is calculated on a formula, depending on age, wage and length of service, which you can easily find on-line, and would not be affected by your sickness absence. Contractual redundancy may have other considerations but you would not end up with less than SRP.

3. Given that voluntary redundancy is not on offer, and I do not feel up to attending an interview, what are my rights as far as this goes.

If you are not well enough to attend a meeting, you could raise any issues in writing. Alternatively you could request a meeting at your home, or a neutral venue, eg a hotel local to you, if you do not feel that you can cope with going into work. It might help to get a gp letter supporting this request - a fit note with recommendations is free, whereas there may be a charge for a private doctor's letter

4. Could I legally be dismissed on grounds of capability with no redundancy payment?

You can, but it is highly unlikely. They would have to go through the warnings procedure and that is a separate process. But in any case all the indications are that they are putting you in the pool for redundancy and treating you the same as your colleagues, which indicates that if you lose your job it will be by reason of redundancy - with a redundancy payment.

5. Is it dangerous ground to request voluntary redundancy if it has not been declared as generally available?

TBH I think you are jumping the gun here. You should first attend the meeting, if at all possible, and hear what they have to say. They may well tell you that your job has been selected for redundancy, and the meeting is to get your feedback and make sure they haven't missed anything, before making a final decision. If that is indeed the case, and if you do not object to being made redundant, you simply need to say that you have no comments to make about the selection process, and ask for a statement setting out the terms of the payment due to you on redundancy.

Remember holiday pay continues to accrue while off sick, so you will have untaken holiday pay due to you.

HTH

D

fred98

Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed and informative reply. This has answered all of my questions, and as you say the actual detail on my personal situation will become clear during consultation. big thanks zzzLazyDaisy you are massive credit to this forum