What constitutes official notice?

Phoenix37

Everyone at the branch where I work has now been made redundant but, the "official notice" was an email sent to our general manager in which he was asked to formally notify the employees with "individual letters of confirmation" to be issued later.

Does this email count as official notice? I would think that until we get letters addressed to us personally with (I presume) details of our redundancy packages, that the notice isn't really official.

After much Googling, I can only find that notice has to be served but can't find anything that constitutes official notice compared to an email sent to one person.

asajj

We have had a major reconstruction at our office recently and the first announcement was a staff meeting saying that there will be redundancies.

It was official start of the consultation period during which employee reps would discuss with business leaders about the outcome. So yes it could be an e-mail.
Once they know which individuals will be affected, they will then go into individual consultation with them and give notice

Phoenix37

Thanks for the reply but I'm not sure you've understood what I meant.

The company has emailed our general manager and told him to tell us the branch is closing and that we are now all working under notice.

What I'm asking is can they do that? What if our GM didn't want to say anything? He's being made redundant too so I could certainly understand it if he didn't want to.

I'm thinking that unless there is something personally addressed to me (either an email or a letter) then the notice period hasn't started yet. What I'm asking is what is the case here. Did my notice start with a generic email sent to one person or does it not until I receive something personally addressed to me?

asajj

I see - sorry my mistake.

A redundancy notice period comes into effect from the moment an employee is formally advised of their leaving date.

This information should be provided in a written letter/e-mail personally addressed to the individual. The document may also contain details of the person’s redundancy payment and employment rights during the upcoming period.

I found Citizen Advise Bureau very helpful by the way. You can call them or book an appointment to discuss this. Hope it helps.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/work_w/work_work_comes_to_an_end_e/work_redundancy_e.htm

getmore4less

How many people? There may need to be a consultation period.

Verbal notice us acceptable unless contract specifies otherwise.
Problem is how they prove when you were notified.