Redundancy Notice period

Penny07

My OH was given notice of threat of redundancy in February - all jobs in his department are being sent out to India. So far he has not had official notice of his redundancy but this is due imminently.
Rumours are rife and it seems that the company is giving people three months notice but saying they cannot give an actual leaving date. This makes it really difficult to plan for the future.
My question is this - Is it legal for them to give three months notice then expect employees to stay in post until the company is ready to get rid of them? Could my husband refuse to sign unless he gets a proper leaving date?
Any advice would be gratefully received.

Conor_3

Yes it is legal to give them three months notice and expect them to stay in post. However they can't stop you giving your notice and leaving early although this would be incredibly stupid as you'd lose the redundancy pay.

And what will he be refusing to sign? There's nothing to sign. You're given a letter informing you and that's that.

HappyG1rl

Your OH would have to receive a letter from the company stating that he is going to be dismissed on the grounds of redundancy.

They would have to tell him what term of notice he is being given if it is a longer length of time than that stated in his contract or T&Cs. I would then expect the termination date to be no later than the date of the letter plus the length of the notice period.

It may be that the company don't require people being made redundant to work that notice period - but pay them for it instead. This is entirely at the company's perogative. If they let you go with pay in lieu before then they are being generous.

Penny07

Sorry if I didn't make it clear my OH is fully expecting to work the three months notice period - its just after that we were unclear about. Could they keep you hanging on at their discretion until their new workforce are up to speed in India? Obviously he'd be mad to go during the 3 months and lose the redundancy, such as it is (but that's another matter!) Thanks for your help.

Conor_3

No. Basically what is in the letter is the finishing day. If they ask him to hold on after that, it is solely at his discretion if he does.