Possible Local Authority redundancy

Mrs_Money

I have been told by my local Authority employer that the department I work in will be closed due to cuts (probably in the summer) and I will no longer have a job.
The LA is always reluctant to make staff redundant and I have been told that they will do their best to find us all other jobs. Bearing in mind our employer is a county council, in theory, a new position could be anywhere in our very large county, so if the distance to travel to a possible new position (or the position itself) would be unacceptable to me, where do I stand re my redundancy payments? If I refuse a position offerered to me, do I lose redundancy pay?
I only have a contract for one day a week, am a couple of years off official state retirement age (although I hadn't planned to retire then) and my redundancy pay would probably be under £1000, so I would really rather continue working!
Any advice would be very welcome!

Mrs_Money

Sorry to bump but does anyone have any ideas?

jobbingmusician

I'm not an expert (new to this board and my only expertise in redundancy is as an employer) but my understanding is that the distance which is deemed reasonable for a redeployment has horribly increased under the current 'employers have it all their own way' regime.

So my suspicion is that if you refused redeployment within the same county, yes, you would cease to be eligible for a redundancy payment.

p00hsticks

I'm not an expert either, but my thoughts are ......

What does your contract of employment say ?
Does it say that you are contracted to work in location xxxxxx, or that you may be required to work anywhere in the county ?

I believe that any alternative position they offer instead of redundancy needs to be considered suitable and comparable but I'm not sure there are any hard and fast guidelines as to how this is measured. I think you are entitled to a four week trial in any new position to see if it works out before you have to accept or decline the position.

You need to consider how far you would be prepared to travel (if at all) and in your shoes if you are offered a position in another location I'd be asking the LA to pay any additional travel expenses required, at least for the first year....

Takeaway_Addict

jobbingmusician wrote: »

I'm not an expert (new to this board and my only expertise in redundancy is as an employer) but my understanding is that the distance which is deemed reasonable for a redeployment has horribly increased under the current 'employers have it all their own way' regime.

So my suspicion is that if you refused redeployment within the same county, yes, you would cease to be eligible for a redundancy payment.

As far as I was aware the recommendations have always been 90 minutes or 50 miles?

sooty&sweep

Hi
You need to look at your reployment / redundancy policy.
I work for a local authority and our policy is that if you are on notice for redundancy then you are shown jobs that are available for redeployment.
You are given the option as to whether you choose to apply for the post. If you apply for a post then you go through an interview process. If you are offered the post and you then turn it down this could effect your redundancy payment. However if you don't apply then no implications.
This was the policy when I went through the process a few years ago. However you need to check with your employer.
Good Luck
Jen

Mrs_Money

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

As far as I was aware the recommendations have always been 90 minutes or 50 miles?

OMG! That would cost me quite a lot (time and cash). I do hope that my employer doesn't suggest anything like that!

mattyprice4004

Mrs_Money wrote: »

OMG! That would cost me quite a lot (time and cash). I do hope that my employer doesn't suggest anything like that!

Unfortunately if offered it seems you'll have to accept or resign.
My last job was 80 miles a day (over 2 hours) of commuting, and I have a family to spend time with too. It was incredibly frustrating, but worth it to put food on the table.

p00hsticks

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Unfortunately if offered it seems you'll have to accept or resign.

Given that the OP hasn't come back with any details of what it says in their contract regarding location, I'm not sure that you can say that - the choice could be between accepting and redundancy