Redundancy offer less than expected

Robson1978

Hi - my borther in law was offered voluntary redundancy at work on Feb 12th and immediately went to see the Finance Director to say he was interested. The FD agreed to talk it through with the MD and let him know. My Brother in Law was expecting an offer of £3,500 as he knows that is the amount that they offered to one of his colleagues in exactly the same role and with exactly the same length of service. The FD has been on holiday and only returned today. After finding out that my brother in law has found a new job in the last week the FD has now only offered him £500 redundancy and wants him to sign a compromise agreement today at a local solicitors to accept the £500. Any thought appreciated but I suspect that although it seems rather underhand on behalf of the employer given the much higher offer to the other person, there is nothing thats been done thats unlawful and therefore my brother in law will probably have to reluctantly accept - albeit it safe in the knowledge that he has another job to go to.

Regards
Robson

p00hsticks

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that unless the redundancy payout rules are explicitly contained in his terms and conditions, and providing he's getting at least the statutory amount that he's entitled to (which will depend on his age, number of years service and salary) they're not doing anything wrong.

I'm assuming that the other person you refer to was made redundant at some point in the past (and was of more or less the same age) ? If both are being made redundant at the same time then there may be more of an argument for it being unfair....

getmore4less

NEVER let your employer know you have a new job when there are redundacies in the offing.

how long has he been there?
Is his weekly wage over £450?

Kernel_Sanders

If it's as easy for him to get a new job as it appears, then I'd be inclined to refuse the job offer and tell them to up the amount offered substantially. That'll teach 'em!

Robson1978

Hi - I don't know his exact wage but I would be surprised if its more than £450 per week. He had his meeting with the solicitor yesterday and the solicitor worked out that he should have been entitled to £3,500 to £4,000 which would tie in with what the other colleague was offered. However to carry on the fight with existing employer may end up being costly with no guarantee of success so I think he is going to reluctantly accept the £500 settlement and take comfort in the fact he has a new job to go to which I am told is significantly better money too!

Regards
Robson

getmore4less

Work out the statutory redundancy and notice that's the minimum acceptable.

how long has he worked there?
what's the weekly pay?

Robson1978

Hi - I'd need to check with him but given that they were only asking for volunteers to take redundancy are they legally obliged to comply with statutory requirements given that he has nothing in writing to ? I believe the £500 settlement offer that they have made is not being termed as redundancy but instead a 'goodwill gesture'.


Regards
Robson

Takeaway_Addict

Robson1978 wrote: »

Hi - I'd need to check with him but given that they were only asking for volunteers to take redundancy are they legally obliged to comply with statutory requirements given that he has nothing in writing to ? I believe the £500 settlement offer that they have made is not being termed as redundancy but instead a 'goodwill gesture'.


Regards
Robson

No they are not. He showed his hand to early I guess.

getmore4less

They don't have to offer anything they know he is going to resign.

It's a £500 bribe to get him to resign.

what about the notice pay and accrued unused holiday

Could be a bluff and they want people to go anyway so will be making redundancies.

For £500 I would say give me more or I am staying.

Then if nothing was done for a while resign.

Need to make sure that a reasonable late start date could be done for the new job to make it (and hope there is no connection between the companies)

Robson1978

Thanks all, he has to start his new job on Monday so has reluctantly accepted the £500 .

Regards
Robson

jonesMUFCforever

Was the redundancy ever put in writing?


Does he not have any Union cover to get advise?