Redundancy Pay Without Employment Contract

MidCentury

Hi all,

My wife has worked in the same small independent shop for over 17 years, and has just learned it will be closing soon as the owners have just accepted an offer for the building. My wife believes that she has never actually had a written contract or statement of terms and conditions, and neither do any of the other employees. 

According to the gov.uk calculator, my Wife should be entitled to 21 weeks redundancy pay, and I believe she should also be given 12 weeks notice due to the length of service.

Am I right in assuming that even without any written contract, my Wife has the same rights as someone who has, in this situation?

Thanks in advance!

prowla

Here are some comments/thoughts:

• Redundancy pay entitlements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/staff-redundant/redundancy-pay - which lays out the calculations based on service, age; note that there an upper limit/cap on the resultant weekly amount.
• The notice period entitlements are detailed at https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods - it states "The statutory redundancy notice periods are: 12 weeks’ notice if employed for 12 years or more".
  
• Does she have payslips covering the time employed?
• Have there been gaps in employment?
  
• What constitutes a contract of employment is given at https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions - note that it says "As soon as someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with their employer. An employment contract does not have to be written down.".

IANAL, hope that helps!

MidCentury

prowla said:

Here are some comments/thoughts:

• Redundancy pay entitlements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/staff-redundant/redundancy-pay - which lays out the calculations based on service, age; note that there an upper limit/cap on the resultant weekly amount.
• The notice period entitlements are detailed at https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods - it states "The statutory redundancy notice periods are: 12 weeks’ notice if employed for 12 years or more".
  
• Does she have payslips covering the time employed?
• Have there been gaps in employment?
  
• What constitutes a contract of employment is given at https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions - note that it says "As soon as someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with their employer. An employment contract does not have to be written down.".

IANAL, hope that helps!

Thank you for the reply 😊 

No payslips going back more than 5 years or so, but no gaps in employment at all, thanks again!

thebrexitunicorn

Yes, the lack of a written contract doesn’t affect her rights.  12 weeks notice, a redundancy payment and pay for any accrued but untaken annual leave.  

MidCentury

thebrexitunicorn said:

Yes, the lack of a written contract doesn’t affect her rights.  12 weeks notice, a redundancy payment and pay for any accrued but untaken annual leave.  

Thank you for confirming that!

penners324

Are her pension payments upto date?

macman

She does have an employment contract, but it's a verbal one: it's legal status is the same regardless. The only problem comes in proving what that contract contains.
But, since we are only concerned with her statutory redundancy rights, it does not affect her entitlement.