Redundancy

lottie_75

Hi

Im new to this so please be gentle.

My partner resigned from his job last month due to stress and having previously this year had a major operation which he went back too soon from. They offered him voluantary redundancy which of course he took.

He has just had a call tonight from a friend who still works for the old company to say that they are aware he is working again and they arent happy about this as they thought he was too ill to work. They have jumped to this conclusion themselves as his resignation letter just states that he feels he can no longer continue working in this company.

He got his redundancy cheque on 1/10 and of course cashed straight away. What we are very worried about now is that they will try and reclaim this money, are they able to do that? I have kept a copy of his resignation letter and the letter to confirm they hae given him voluantary redundancy.

Im sorry if I have gone on a bit but this is the first bit of luck we have had in 7years getting this money and it seemed that things were looking up.(previous repossesion and extreme debt now all sorted)

Any advice or help appreciated.

JoeHel

Surely they offered him voluntary redundancy because he was unable to continue THAT job. That doesn't mean he can't do another job! Different location, different job spec, different hours could all play a part. I don't know anything about employment law but in any event I thought redundancy was offered when the position became "redundant". Therefore it wouldn't matter what your OH did afterwards - his previous position no longer existed anyway?

Hope this is nothing to worry about and you can enjoy the stress relief the money has given you both! :j

supersavershal

There is nothing they can do about it.If they felt he was too ill to work they should have made him finish on the grounds of ill health and his pay would have been severence pay.He received redundancy pay that means his position in that company was made redundant, it no longer existed.Its sour grapes on their part, take no notice.

wok_boy

Tell his previous employer to get lost. They've already paid him out.

lottie_75

Thanks all for you replies. We both had a bit of a sleepless night, silly I know. They have said that they can still stop his cheque. It has been cashed for 7 days now but they say they have a right to stop this even up to 6mths!! That is new to me. They really didnt want him to leave the job but he insisted he was leaving anyway so they paid him. They are still ruining our lives even though he doesnt work there anymore.
I have got to stop thinking of what may happen as you have made me see sense when you all say they cant do anything. They money has all gone now anyway clearing off our last debts.

Thanks again

opalfruits_2

Lottie, if you are still worried about it why not ring ACAS for some free confidential advice?

malestrom07

They cannot do anything about it. They cannot stop him from working as he would become a burden on the state. The state would never pay benefits to someone who can work but refused to because a previous employer objected. This would be complete nonesense.

Don't forget that redundancy payments are compensation for loss of future income. They don't have a leg to stand on. He may have had a dramatic improvement in his mental or physical well being. Like wok boy says tell where to get off.......don't worry.

Burlesque_Babe

Nothing they can do. I was made redundant in May (hurrah!) and at one point was told that the redundancy is compensation for a post which no longer exists.

Redundancy is about a post, not a person.

He could even go back to work for the same company in a different job if he wanted - absolutely legal and above board and they couldn't ask for the money back.