Redundancy Pay Help

HastingsStew

Bit of a long story but any help would be appreciated..
At the start of March i was approached by my company about redundancy as the company was struggling and they wasn't sure they could continue to employ me.
It's only a small company and i knew they were in trouble, So i negotiated with my boss that i would be paid in full at the end of March, and would then receive my redundancy pay (Just below £2,500.00) in 4 payments throughout April to help them out, It was also agreed that i would take 3 pieces of artwork from my employer as collateral against them not paying my redundancy, if the money wasn't paid i would sell the artwork to get my redundancy that way.

This was all signed and agreed in a letter between myself and the boss / director of the company, It was also agreed that my last working day would be the 13th March and i would be allowed to work from home until the end of March, Then Covid hit.

During the next month i emailed and spoke on the phone to my boss about him putting me on the Furlough scheme, and after some concerns he agreed.
I received my April, May & June pay through the furlough scheme with no problems at all, and today texted him to see if that was my last payment or if he was extending it to cover July also, His reply was that he would continue to keep me on the furlough so i get paid at the end of July, and then i can return the prints that i took and call it quits, Nothing about the redundancy pay that was agreed between us, I don't see how this is fair as of the end of July i will have no job, and will also have received no redundancy pay from my employer, am i correct in thinking this?

I know that if i reply to the text asking for my redundancy pay he will stop my July furlough and i will have to continue to fight him for the redundancy pay, I do have the artwork that i can sell, but i would rather get it sorted out correctly.

Any help going forward would be appreciated

sharpe106

That a new one, artwork as collateral for payment. You are still entitled to your redundancy pay. As furlough does not change that. But you might find yourself in a legal minefield here. If it was me I would accept the rest of the furlough and give the artwork back, you have done better then you would have if you had just taken redundancy, I would be happy with that.

HastingsStew

Many thanks for taking the time to reply, A legal minefield ? Could you expand on that

sharpe106

I have no idea if you actually can take an asset for collateral against a redundancy pay. As there is a legal process to follow if they don't pay you your redundancy pay, taking an asset from the company is not one of them, although granted they agreed in this case. 
But what happens if you take it further and he claims you forced him to sign the contract? 
To me if he is refusing to give you the redundancy pay now he is not going to meekly hand it over if you take it further without fighting, you are in a better situation then you would have been if you had got your redundancy pay on day 1 it is probably not worth the potential hassle. So I would try to get him to pay it if not accept the final month furlough and leave it at that. 

HastingsStew

Thanks for the reply, The agreement was witnessed by a third party to cover both parties if any situation arose.
If i had gone to another employer and Covid hadn't sadly happened i would have had the same amount of salary for April, May, and June, plus the redundancy, The artwork would have been returned and we could both move on.

sharpe106

To me it seems like a legal minefield but if you want to take it further if he refuses try contacting ACAS or CAB
https://www.acas.org.uk/advice
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

HastingsStew

Many thanks for the advice, Hopefully it gets rectified to everyone's satisfaction

sharpe106

Hopefully he will pay up.