Question regarding disclosure of being made redundant

sth.coast

I was made redundant 20 months ago and I signed a settlement agreement with my employer. I have observed the terms of the agreement - I.e. not trying to go back to my previous employer, no disclosing business information, no bad mouthing my employer etc

Very recently I bumped into an ex-colleague who I hadn’t seen since I left my employer and he hadn’t realised I was made redundant and I confirmed with him I had left on redundancy. We discussed very briefly that I could potentially reapply for jobs at my ex- employee in 3 months time as the 2 year period of not working for the employer is almost up. 

Is that “low level” conversation liable to get me into trouble with my ex-employee if it ever got back to them? It was common knowledge who was at risk of redundancy and I did say my farewells to all my contacts and associates inside the company.

I am probably being a bit paranoid but only because there is the obvious potential to repay the redundancy payment!

Brie

If you were made redundant then it's a standard thing to be able to go back to working for that company after a specified period of time.  My recent situation it was 6 months.  I could be reemployed sooner but I would need to pay back some of my redundancy money.

It sounds more like your employment was terminated for some reason and you have signed a non disclosure agreement which prevents you from discussing the details (so no bad mouthing).  If that was the case I don't know why you would want to go back or why they would want to hire you.

Either way it wouldn't be an issue to bump into someone you know from there (I assume you didn't go looking for him to discuss the employer specifically) and to say "no I don't work there any more" and discuss whether or not you might apply to go back.  That's a very different situation to you being interviewed on BBC news talking about your employers bad practices and mentioning how their algorithms or latest inventions actually work.

On-the-coast

We don’t know what you signed, how restrictive it was & how senior a position you held.  

I work for a large multinational that sometimes writes separation clauses which in my opinion would not stand up to legal challenge in uk courts. I have several ex colleagues who’ve taken the money & ignored some of the ‘petty’ restrictions on that basis.  They’d probably quite enjoy a little court battle though. 

Ultimately no one’s going to involve lawyers if they can avoid it, and if no harm to business is being done.   I’d guess that what you’re describing wouldn’t approach the bar for concern but only you & your legal advisor can really answer that question. 

sth.coast

Brie said:

If you were made redundant then it's a standard thing to be able to go back to working for that company after a specified period of time.  My recent situation it was 6 months.  I could be reemployed sooner but I would need to pay back some of my redundancy money.

It sounds more like your employment was terminated for some reason and you have signed a non disclosure agreement which prevents you from discussing the details (so no bad mouthing).  If that was the case I don't know why you would want to go back or why they would want to hire you.

Either way it wouldn't be an issue to bump into someone you know from there (I assume you didn't go looking for him to discuss the employer specifically) and to say "no I don't work there any more" and discuss whether or not you might apply to go back.  That's a very different situation to you being interviewed on BBC news talking about your employers bad practices and mentioning how their algorithms or latest inventions actually work.

Many thanks for that reply. I bumped into the person whilst at the supermarket and updated him as I hadn’t seen him for ages. We had talked previously about 3 years ago about the risk of redundancy due to a reorganisation and he was very supportive. The recent conversation was just a way of updating him.

We talked about the possibility of going back to the employer. I actually took retirement when I was made redundant but I would like to return to work particularly with the cost of living crisis. My ex-employer is a very big employer in my town and I left on very good terms. They could be an option for me when returning to work, but I’ve not made my mind up.

Brie

Thanks for explaining more about the situation.  It was the bit about bad mouthing the employer that got me - I've been made redundant more than once as well as having several near misses and have never seen anything about this.  Hence my comments.

But if you are on good terms and this chap was supportive then maybe he can assist further by letting you know a good way back in.  Which depts are hiring or which managers you may want to avoid.  Use your connections!!!  Even if you can find out what recruitment company they use might be helpful as you might be very valuable to them as a returning ex employee.  

Brie

And start now, don't wait.  As you probably know recruitment takes time and suddenly you'll be at the 2 years mark.  And if things happen quicker be honest and say you would like to return and will wait if necessary or are they will to waive that part of the redundancy deal.  Frankly I don't think they could ask for anything more than a tiny fraction of the redundancy payout after 20 months - it's normally a declining amount over time.

sth.coast

Brie said:

Thanks for explaining more about the situation.  It was the bit about bad mouthing the employer that got me - I've been made redundant more than once as well as having several near misses and have never seen anything about this.  Hence my comments.

But if you are on good terms and this chap was supportive then maybe he can assist further by letting you know a good way back in.  Which depts are hiring or which managers you may want to avoid.  Use your connections!!!  Even if you can find out what recruitment company they use might be helpful as you might be very valuable to them as a returning ex employee.  

I have had conversations with a couple of people who work for my ex-employee and who I know very well from my time there about the potential for returning to work. I have made it very clear that I can’t and won’t get involved in discussions about potential opportunities as I think that is too risky. I would only do that once the 2 years is up in October this year. I have been keeping an eye on what vacancies are currently available through the various job vacancy platforms they use.

sth.coast

Brie said:

Thanks for explaining more about the situation.  It was the bit about bad mouthing the employer that got me - I've been made redundant more than once as well as having several near misses and have never seen anything about this.  Hence my comments.

But if you are on good terms and this chap was supportive then maybe he can assist further by letting you know a good way back in.  Which depts are hiring or which managers you may want to avoid.  Use your connections!!!  Even if you can find out what recruitment company they use might be helpful as you might be very valuable to them as a returning ex employee.  

Just to add about the bad mouthing, there was a clause in my settlement agreement saying I must not make derogatory remarks about my ex-employer. I have stuck to that as it would have been all too easy for anything to get back to the employer.

Undervalued

sth.coast said:

Brie said:

Thanks for explaining more about the situation.  It was the bit about bad mouthing the employer that got me - I've been made redundant more than once as well as having several near misses and have never seen anything about this.  Hence my comments.

But if you are on good terms and this chap was supportive then maybe he can assist further by letting you know a good way back in.  Which depts are hiring or which managers you may want to avoid.  Use your connections!!!  Even if you can find out what recruitment company they use might be helpful as you might be very valuable to them as a returning ex employee.  

Just to add about the bad mouthing, there was a clause in my settlement agreement saying I must not make derogatory remarks about my ex-employer. I have stuck to that as it would have been all too easy for anything to get back to the employer.

Well I would hope you would stick to all of the agreement, just as you would expect the employer to do. 

As part of the settlement agreement you would have received independent legal advice about the implications of signing, almost certainly at the employer's expense. If you were unhappy with any of the agreement you should have considered paying the solicitor to attempt to negotiate better terms for you.

Realistically I would be surprised if a former employer would take action against you for what you describe in this thread, assuming that is as far as it went. However, if nothing else the fact you are worrying about the possibility is a good lesson to be very careful.

Andy_L

sth.coast said:

I was made redundant 20 months ago and I signed a settlement agreement with my employer. I have observed the terms of the agreement - I.e. not trying to go back to my previous employer, no disclosing business information, no bad mouthing my employer etc

Very recently I bumped into an ex-colleague who I hadn’t seen since I left my employer and he hadn’t realised I was made redundant and I confirmed with him I had left on redundancy. We discussed very briefly that I could potentially reapply for jobs at my ex- employee in 3 months time as the 2 year period of not working for the employer is almost up. 

Is that “low level” conversation liable to get me into trouble with my ex-employee if it ever got back to them? It was common knowledge who was at risk of redundancy and I did say my farewells to all my contacts and associates inside the company.

I am probably being a bit paranoid but only because there is the obvious potential to repay the redundancy payment!

Did the agreement say you couldn't say you were made redundant? (seems unlikely)

When you said you had do you badmouth them at the same time eg "they made re redundant" vs "they made me redundant the bunch of <expeltives>

sth.coast

Andy_L said:

sth.coast said:

I was made redundant 20 months ago and I signed a settlement agreement with my employer. I have observed the terms of the agreement - I.e. not trying to go back to my previous employer, no disclosing business information, no bad mouthing my employer etc

Very recently I bumped into an ex-colleague who I hadn’t seen since I left my employer and he hadn’t realised I was made redundant and I confirmed with him I had left on redundancy. We discussed very briefly that I could potentially reapply for jobs at my ex- employee in 3 months time as the 2 year period of not working for the employer is almost up. 

Is that “low level” conversation liable to get me into trouble with my ex-employee if it ever got back to them? It was common knowledge who was at risk of redundancy and I did say my farewells to all my contacts and associates inside the company.

I am probably being a bit paranoid but only because there is the obvious potential to repay the redundancy payment!

Did the agreement say you couldn't say you were made redundant? (seems unlikely)

When you said you had do you badmouth them at the same time eg "they made re redundant" vs "they made me redundant the bunch of <expeltives>

To be honest I can’t remember the exact wording of the settlement agreement although it say that any discussion should only be amongst close friends and family and others who may need to know.

It was common knowledge in the business that there were redundancies going on and so contacts I knew in other departments know what was going on. I did tell friends what had happened as it was kind of hard not to talk about it. I must admit I wasn’t angry at leaving, far from it as it was a fresh start.