Redundancy - unclear notice

Violettaaa

Hello,
On the 8th of October I was informed by my employer that I was being made redundant after having been on furlough since April.
Their email was ambiguous as it did not give me a clear notice (I am entitled to 3 months' contractual notice), nor did it explicitly state that my redundancy was with immediate effect. My employer simply said that due to the pandemic 'we won't be in a position to continue with your employment'.
Shall I consider the date I received this communication as the start of my notice period or my last day of employment?
Thanks in advance to whoever will be able to help with this matter.

getmore4less

Ask them.
You could try it in a roundabout with something like "thank you for notifying me of being at risk of redundancy when will the first consultation meeting be to discuss dates and the redundancy package as it would be beneficial to both of us to plan as if I am to be made redundant as a result of consultation we will need to consider the options for the 3months notice 

have you had previous communication abut coming off furlough?

Violettaaa

getmore4less said:

Ask them.
You could try it in a roundabout with something like "thank you for notifying me of being at risk of redundancy when will the first consultation meeting be to discuss dates and the redundancy package as it would be beneficial to both of us to plan as if I am to be made redundant as a result of consultation we will need to consider the options for the 3months notice 

have you had previous communication abut coming off furlough?

I did ask them and I'm even more confused! First they said over the phone that my last day would be the 31st of October, then when I brought up my contractual notice (which they had clearly forgotten about) they said that actually the day they sent me the first email was the start of my notice period, so I should come off furlough in November and go back to work for three months, unless I want to terminate my notice earlier, obviously without any payment in lieu. Can they do this? 
To answer your question - I had not received any prior communication about coming off furlough. I had been emailing and calling to request updates since early September and all I got was silence. I have been with them for less than two years so they weren't under any obligation to follow a consultation process for my redundancy unfortunately.

getmore4less

They can ask you anything, and would you like to finish early is OK.

You don't have to agree and can negotiate alternatives like garden leave or PILON.

Returning and carrying on the job kid of says it is not redundant yet and business could improve or alternative come up.

with no package to worry about if you want to leave you can offer to leave early when you find a new job.

I would push them for a proper written notice starting from the day you receive it might squeeze an extra couple of weeks out of them.

Thrugelmir

Sounds as you need to arrange a (Covid secure) meeting to discuss the matter properly.