Company witholding work made me redundant

nem39esis

Ok bit of a strange one, I work for a large engineering consultancy, a ltd company. They've made me redundant due to reduced future workload and im currently on gardening leave.


In the last month ive learnt that two directors (one of which was mine) were put on indefinite leave, the rumours were that they had been holding back work in order to leave and start their own business. they have now left the company and resigned.


Ive spoke to ACAS who advised me to ask the company about this and if it was true along with what work was it and if it would have been enough for me. I did but the response I got back from HR was that they cannot comment or offer any information-which basically means its true.


Im slightly at a loss as to what I should now do, do I get a solicitor involved to find out more, a private investigator? due I file claim against the two individuals or is it the companies responsibility?


I simply want to know what amount of work it was, if it was enough to keep me employed then obviously I want justice and want my job back or compensation for my loss.


any ideas?

Undervalued

nem39esis wrote: »

Ok bit of a strange one, I work for a large engineering consultancy, a ltd company. They've made me redundant due to reduced future workload and im currently on gardening leave.


In the last month ive learnt that two directors (one of which was mine) were put on indefinite leave, the rumours were that they had been holding back work in order to leave and start their own business. they have now left the company and resigned.


Ive spoke to ACAS who advised me to ask the company about this and if it was true along with what work was it and if it would have been enough for me. I did but the response I got back from HR was that they cannot comment or offer any information-which basically means its true.


Im slightly at a loss as to what I should now do, do I get a solicitor involved to find out more, a private investigator? due I file claim against the two individuals or is it the companies responsibility?


I simply want to know what amount of work it was, if it was enough to keep me employed then obviously I want justice and want my job back or compensation for my loss.


any ideas?

I'm struggling to understand why ACAS told you to do that (although with some of the nonsense that comes from their initial call centre it doesn't surprise me)!

Basically the HR department are correct, you do not have a right to that information!

When you say directors, do you mean the owners of the company?

The owners of a company are quite entitled to downsize or close it down completely and make the staff redundant. Obviously they must pay the statutory redundancy plus notice and any contractual obligations.

I also struggle to see how you could have any claim against these individuals. They might have been in breach of their contracts but any liability would be to the company, not individual employees like yourself.

So, if you are genuinely redundant then, as long as they pay you statutory redundancy and notice (you say you are on garden leave) then sadly that is it.

If the redundancy is not genuine (i.e there is still work but somebody else is being employed to do it) then you might have a claim for unfair dismissal.

But providing there is no work for you to do then, as far as I can see, there reason for the lack of work is irrelevant.

nem39esis

Thanks for the reply, its a big company so directors are more group directors and not company owners. The two individuals were previously owners of another company to which this one bought out around a year ago.


I suppose if they were withholding work theyd secured on company time in order to then take it with them when they left the company on their own terms is that then something I can claim against as it may have led to my redundancy as the work they held back could have been enough for me.


Also, as the company has now found this out, I assume that that work is now forthcoming and the company can now take this forward. Its a tricky situation and I guess im angry that the directors (one of which announced to me he was making me redundant) was keeping work to themselves breaching their contract yes, but whilst also having an affect on other employees and their jobs.

Undervalued

nem39esis wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, its a big company so directors are more group directors and not company owners. The two individuals were previously owners of another company to which this one bought out around a year ago.


I suppose if they were withholding work theyd secured on company time in order to then take it with them when they left the company on their own terms is that then something I can claim against as it may have led to my redundancy as the work they held back could have been enough for me.


Also, as the company has now found this out, I assume that that work is now forthcoming and the company can now take this forward. Its a tricky situation and I guess im angry that the directors (one of which announced to me he was making me redundant) was keeping work to themselves breaching their contract yes, but whilst also having an affect on other employees and their jobs.

I don't think so.

If the company has no work for you it can quite lawfully make you redundant. The reason it has no work for you is irrelevant. The company has not (seemingly) behaved unlawfully in any way.

If the directors (i.e owners) of the company had traded unlawfully then you might have had a claim against them personally. However if they simply made poor business decisions leading to a lack of work then you would have no claim apart obviously for statutory redundancy and notice pay.

getmore4less

If you are on garden leave and there will be work they can just withdraw the redundancy and you go back to work.

You still have a job go back to the company on that basis.