Employer forcing relocation

Jimmy_Bull

A friend has worked for very well known supermarket in Sunderland a number of years. Sunderland store closing down altogether, brand new store opening 5 miles along road in Washington. Staff were told if they volunteered they were more or less guaranteed a start at the new store. 

They were given a preference form ie 3 nearest stores happy to relocate to or even the option of redundancy as 1 of the preferences.
Bearing in mind my friend is a single parent with childcare responsibilities, also has caring responsibilities for disabled elderly father, at present does not have a car and is currently on sickness absence for the past 6 weeks. At present does not have a line manager as they have already left.
They have completely ignored the preference form and have advised that she is to be relocated to a different store altogether. The store which is not 1 of her preferences is still within 20 miles of her home address but is twice as far to travel than the Sunderland store. To travel on public transport to the new location takes minimum 2 hours and would not be able to get to work on time on a weekend. Even if she had access to a car, the new journey to work would incur toll fees through the Tyne tunnel which are £2.20 each way.
She has already informed them not happy and does not accept this proposal and was told to make an appeal.
Does she have a leg to stand on? Will the circumstances actually be taken into account in the appeal. In terms of the Equality Act does anything else get taken into account ? In this day and age can the employer force through a relocation as long as it’s within 20 miles of home address ? Some of the other staff have been given the exact preference they requested, some have been given redundancy that they requested and some given redundancy who did not request.

elsien

In what way does she feel the Equality Act applies? What is her protected characteristic?

is your friend a union member?
When my old organisation were looking at redundancies, they did actually consider a time taken to go back-and-forth, as well as distance.

MattMattMattUK

The other option apart from accepting the relocation or appeal is redundancy, that would still apply as her current position is being made redundant. 

Hoenir

Jimmy_Bull said:

Some of the other staff have been given the exact preference they requested, some have been given redundancy that they requested and some given redundancy who did not request.

Impossible to satisfy everyone's individual preferences. The employer can decide who to offer what to. Providing the matrix used to score individuals is fair and equitable. 

GrumpyDil

Also, it would help to understand if her contract has a relocation clause. 

Many years ago my then company closed one office and was potentially moving staff to another site around 15 miles away from their existing one. 

We did have a relocation clause which covered the move but the company did take the impact of the move on childcare, schooling etc into consideration. 

Soot2006

It sounds like a redundancy situation?

With alternative roles at other stores available to reduce redundancies. However, from what you've said, redundancies are going ahead, so there are clearly not sufficient alternative roles for all current employees.
As long as the alternative role is reasonable your friend might find it difficult to appeal for another location, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try. 

Is this a collective consultation period, or individual? What meetings/discussions has your friend had, other than filling in the preferences form?

gwynlas

Obviously not everyone is going to get what they want as there are unlikely to be sufficient vacancies at nearer stores. Your friend is probably best off seeking redundancy and moving on. It might be that her current sickness worked against her as managers need employers in post rather than having to pay sick pay.

Andy_L

Jimmy_Bull said:

Does she have a leg to stand on? Will the circumstances actually be taken into account in the appeal. In terms of the Equality Act does anything else get taken into account ? In this day and age can the employer force through a relocation as long as it’s within 20 miles of home address ? Some of the other staff have been given the exact preference they requested, some have been given redundancy that they requested and some given redundancy who did not request.

Being a career is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

TELLIT01

Your friend completed a Preference form.  That's all it is, an indication of the location they would prefer to work from.  It is not a guarantee that they will get that location.  If she has explained her situation and is still not able to get a preferred location, redundancy will be the only other option.