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Is this legal

Employer has asked told me they are restructuring the company so my job will disappear in this restructuring. They can offer me a driving job, reduced hours and alot less pay and of course take away my company car. I was a manager in an office. Is this all legal. I have only being at this company for a year and a half so no redundancy.
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  • jessy1 said:
    Employer has asked told me they are restructuring the company so my job will disappear in this restructuring. They can offer me a driving job, reduced hours and alot less pay and of course take away my company car. I was a manager in an office. Is this all legal. I have only being at this company for a year and a half so no redundancy.
     Yes it's legal. You have no employment rights other than from discrimination. They can let you go at any time. 
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 16,363
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    They are at least giving you the offer of a job and they are in short supply at present.  If you reject the job offer you have nothing so might want to consider accepting the driving job as a stop gap.  Any form of employment looks better on a CV than a gap.
  • Dox
    Dox Posts: 3,116
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    jessy1 said:
    Employer has asked told me they are restructuring the company so my job will disappear in this restructuring. They can offer me a driving job, reduced hours and alot less pay and of course take away my company car. I was a manager in an office. Is this all legal. I have only being at this company for a year and a half so no redundancy.
    What do you think is 'illegal' about it? You can be dismissed for any (or no) reason, including redundancy, if you have under two years of service unless you have been discriminated against on the grounds of some 'protected' characteristic (e.g. age, gender, race).

    Otherwise perfectly lawful, albeit extremely unwelcome - but at least there's a job offer on the table, which is vastly better than being unemployed. 
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176
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    edited 31 August 2020 at 3:05PM
    Unfortunately you can be dismissed within the first 2 years of employment, provided the employer gives the proper amount of notice.

    Personally I would string this out, if at all possible. Employers often forget that you can count your notice period towards the 2 year requirement. If the employer dilly daddles they could easily find themselves up at the 2 year mark and having to pay redundancy.

    Though, statutory redundancy pay won't be very much if you are only just hitting the 2 year mark.

    Might be worth searching for another job in the meantime.
  • Undervalued
    Undervalued Posts: 8,839
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    Unfortunately you can be dismissed within the first 2 years of employment, provided the employer gives the proper amount of notice.

    Personally I would string this out, if at all possible. Employers often forget that you can count your notice period towards the 2 year requirement. If the employer dilly daddles they could easily find themselves up at the 2 year mark and having to pay redundancy.

    Though, statutory redundancy pay won't be very much if you are only just hitting the 2 year mark.

    Might be worth searching for another job in the meantime.
    Only one week's statutory notice counts.

    Longer contractual notice must of course be paid but only counts towards the two years if the employer is daft enough to let the employee work rather than giving pay in lieu. Most contracts allow pay in lieu. In the unlikely event it doesn't then arguably there may be a claim for wrongful dismissal (i.e breach of contract) if the employee is not allowed to work their full contractual notice. Normally a moot point as most people are happy to get paid without having to work but it can occasionally put them at a disadvantage which can be actionable.
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176
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    Only one week's statutory notice counts.

    Longer contractual notice must of course be paid but only counts towards the two years if the employer is daft enough to let the employee work rather than giving pay in lieu. Most contracts allow pay in lieu. In the unlikely event it doesn't then arguably there may be a claim for wrongful dismissal (i.e breach of contract) if the employee is not allowed to work their full contractual notice. Normally a moot point as most people are happy to get paid without having to work but it can occasionally put them at a disadvantage which can be actionable.
    Getting a bit technical here, but you are right, only if:
    1) The Op's notice is longer than 1 week, so we are talking about his contractual notice.
    2) The employment contract has a PILON clause in it.
    3) The employer actually elects to exercise the PILON clause.

    There's every chance the Op's contract doesn't have a PILON clause, or that the employer will simply give him contractual notice (rather than saying they are exercising the PILON - employers often forget this - the distinction between giving notice vs. using the PILON is not something people normally think about). 

    Personally, in the Op's shoes, I'd just keep schtum for now. 
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882
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    Even without a contractual PILON clause they can terminate without notice
    only the statutory notice get added for the  effective date of termination
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,198
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    OP, yes, effectively they are dismissing you for redundancy, which they are fully entitled to do, although due to your having been there for only a short time you are not entitled to any redundancy payment.

    They have offered you and alternative job job, so your options are:
    - Turn down the offer, leave as your have been dismissed, and move on (which is great if you have found a new job to go to)
    - Accept the offer, and then look for a new job
    Unless you already have a new job lined up, I would suggest going for the second option - it's generally easier to find work when you are in work, and even with a lower salary you are likely to be in a better financial position than if you were unemployed. 
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • Brynsam
    Brynsam Posts: 3,643
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    Personally I would string this out, if at all possible. Employers often forget that you can count your notice period towards the 2 year requirement. If the employer dilly daddles they could easily find themselves up at the 2 year mark and having to pay redundancy.

    Get real - if the employer has already started the process, they aren't going to swallow 'stringing it out' for six months.
  • jessy1
    jessy1 Posts: 26
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    Decided to cut loose as wanted me to work crazy hours like 4 am start, two hours travel by public transport am and pm to get work two hours long then back in the evening! Split shift! Could camp in the car park as wouldn’t be time to go home? New contract £25,000 pa when was on £42,000. On call also to cover sickness, absence. I am no spring chicken and would not be able to drive 40 hours plus a week as have undeclared disabilities. I really think they hate me and tried to make it as difficult as possible, maybe there was no actual other job? Just covering themselves as they claimed furlough money then brought me back early. Thanks for all your advice. I am off job hunting! 
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