Can I get redundancy?

Stbridig

Hello there, I would be grateful for advice re this. I work in the nhs in a fairly senior clinical position. I am part time and have been for the past twenty years 2.5 days per week.
A consultation is taking place where the proposal is to reduce the amount of staff on my current band . Two roles at my current band will be available for us to apply for . The unsuccessful candidates will be downgraded and redeployed into roles a band below.
They have said there will be no redundancies.
The roles we are invited to apply for are full time. So, my question is if I do not want a full time role which I dont, I am not being the same opportunity as the full time people as I cannot keep my banding.
Have I got grounds to try and be made redundant? Or can they just offer me a part time job at a lower banding?
Thanks for your advice

getmore4less

You need to make a case that it is not a suitable alternative role.

sangie595

Stbridig wrote: »

Hello there, I would be grateful for advice re this. I work in the nhs in a fairly senior clinical position. I am part time and have been for the past twenty years 2.5 days per week.
A consultation is taking place where the proposal is to reduce the amount of staff on my current band . Two roles at my current band will be available for us to apply for . The unsuccessful candidates will be downgraded and redeployed into roles a band below.
They have said there will be no redundancies.
The roles we are invited to apply for are full time. So, my question is if I do not want a full time role which I dont, I am not being the same opportunity as the full time people as I cannot keep my banding.
Have I got grounds to try and be made redundant? Or can they just offer me a part time job at a lower banding?
Thanks for your advice

The NHS isn't my area, but I think the policies work similarly, in that a suitable alternative falls within a band range, so a band below would count. You may have some salary protection.

Just because a job is "full-time" doesn't mean that it has to be done by one person - there are ways to split jobs. Have you asked about job-share or other options for making the role part-time?

Stbridig

Thankyou for replying. I was told by my manager that my post is being deleted
I would in all honesty like to be made redundant. My issue is that because the only jobs on offer at my current band are full time I cannot apply for them which I think puts me at a disadvantage

sangie595

Stbridig wrote: »

Thankyou for replying. I was told by my manager that my post is being deleted
I would in all honesty like to be made redundant. My issue is that because the only jobs on offer at my current band are full time I cannot apply for them which I think puts me at a disadvantage

So have you asked whether these jobs can be split?

You won't be made redundant unless it suits them - you can ask for it but they do not have to agree. Provided they work within the policy, then if you refuse a job that is deemed suitable within the policy, then you will just be resigning without anything.

Stbridig

No I have not asked because this is all very recent , just met with my manager yesterday.
I believe this trust does not want part time workers, I am not going to change to a job share as I have a part time contract.
I imagine there will be a role that I can be put into quite easily but that is not really what I am asking.
I am asking if it is discriminatory for me as a part time worker to only have the option of applying for a full time role. I can ask if that role could be divided between two of us as way of showing an interest I suppose but I think they would then just interview me and say I was unsuccessful.

sangie595

Stbridig wrote: »

No I have not asked because this is all very recent , just met with my manager yesterday.
I believe this trust does not want part time workers, I am not going to change to a job share as I have a part time contract.
I imagine there will be a role that I can be put into quite easily but that is not really what I am asking.
I am asking if it is discriminatory for me as a part time worker to only have the option of applying for a full time role. I can ask if that role could be divided between two of us as way of showing an interest I suppose but I think they would then just interview me and say I was unsuccessful.

OK. There is another way of putting this. The NHS has it employment policies tied up in a bow. They can make mistakes. But not often. But if you aren't prepared to go the mile, then you are wasting your time. You don't ask as a way of showing an interest. Do you want one of those jobs or not? And if so, are you prepared to argue why they should be part-time, even if the employer says not, because so far they haven't actually been asked? And I am sorry, but why wouldn't you change to a job share - you are being unreasonable if you truly want to work part-time and are willing to do so.

There is no point at all in fixating on you wanting to be redundant unless that option is on the table. There is nothing so far to say it is. So it would appear that the option is to work part-time for possibly less pay, and that being quite legal. Or step up and work on getting a part-time role from what you think are full time jobs. There isn't a trust in the country thinks it can survive on full time roles only. Believing and reality are not the same thing.

Stbridig

Thankyou, yes perhaps I needed a reality check, just dreading the changes I suppose, working every other weekend etc.
Still at least I can retire early I suppose

Lunar_Eclipse

Stbridig wrote: »

I am asking if it is discriminatory for me as a part time worker to only have the option of applying for a full time role.

Yes, but don't go down this route.

If your role is no longer required, then the role you currently perform is redundant. Your employer is supposed to find you a suitable alternative position, which a full time job is not, or they are making you redundant (& should pay accordingly.) So either they suggest splitting a role available to make it suitable, move you to another area completely in a suitable role, or make you redundant.

Not many people are offered redundancy by asking for it, but if your role is redundant and there is nothing suitable, they will make you redundant under this pressure.

Talk to HR. Say you understand the situation, that your role is redundant and what suitable alternatives do they have because you have no desire to stop working at the moment. If they say none, then you can say that it looks like your role is therefore redundant and what next step do they suggest.

sangie595

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Yes, but don't go down this route.

If your role is no longer required, then the role you currently perform is redundant. Your employer is supposed to find you a suitable alternative position, which a full time job is not, or they are making you redundant (& should pay accordingly.) So either they suggest splitting a role available to make it suitable, move you to another area completely in a suitable role, or make you redundant.

Not many people are offered redundancy by asking for it, but if your role is redundant and there is nothing suitable, they will make you redundant under this pressure.

Talk to HR. Say you understand the situation, that your role is redundant and what suitable alternatives do they have because you have no desire to stop working at the moment. If they say none, then you can say that it looks like your role is therefore redundant and what next step do they suggest.

Except for the fact:

Stbridig wrote: »

The unsuccessful candidates will be downgraded and redeployed into roles a band below.
They have said there will be no redundancies.

gwynlas

Hopefully as you say you are in a senior role you have the sense to belong to a union. As a senior member of staff you might get the services of a full time union official to negotiate on your behalf, NHS HR departments are generally biased towards management,
Do think about applying for a full time role if you close to retirement age as it will boost your pension. It is only worth getting made redundant if you can survive on a lower level of income or plan to move to another employer.
Depending on age you might get redundancy and early retirement luckily I did but others further along in time did get redeployed to lower grade posts. I am quite cynical of this as of course they do so with the skills and knowledge of their previous higher grade and therefor generally continue to work above the grade they are paid.