Sham redundancy

mittow

theoretica said:

How long, and expensive, is the training?  Compared to the costs and time for redundancy and recruitment? 

18mo course, works out the same or cheaper than her redundancy pay out. This is a very interesting point you raise! The College could also secure funding externally. 

mittow

Would it be reasonable for my friend to suggest she will review the terms any redundancy package proposed with a solicitor before agreeing? 

And would it be reasonable to point out that training my friend will cost them less than making her redundant/the redundancy pay out?

elsien

She can review what she likes with who she likes but as as long as the redundancy package meets the statutory and contractual requirements, whether she agrees or not is academic because it will be happening anyway whether she agrees or not.   Does her contract give her anything over the statutory amounts?
Calculate your statutory redundancy pay - GOV.UK
And for your second point, she can certainly raise that but again (and unless they are very stupid, this would remain unspoken) it does depend on what other reasons they may have for wanting to get rid of her. 

mittow

elsien said:

She can review what she likes with who she likes but as as long as the redundancy package meets the statutory and contractual requirements, whether she agrees or not is academic because it will be happening anyway whether she agrees or not.   Does her contract give her anything over the statutory amounts?
Calculate your statutory redundancy pay - GOV.UK
And for your second point, she can certainly raise that but again (and unless they are very stupid, this would remain unspoken) it does depend on what other reasons they may have for wanting to get rid of her. 

But she can appeal it internally - is that right? (Is it worth asking about details of an appeals process?) 

Contractual notice is good, but I suspect everything else will be statutory (i.e. payment).

The contractual notice set out in the contract is 3mos - am I right in thinking that they must respect this?

elsien

It really depends what the grounds for any appeal would be. If it's a larger group then the appeal might be around an unfair scoring/selection process but that's not going to apply if it's only her.  Nothing to stop her appealing anyway if she thinks they haven't carried out the process correctly, or if she wants to reinforce her case about training being a preferable options all round but she does need to be realistic about how much that might achieve, or not. 

mittow

What is the best way of asking for more than statutory?

She's prepared a list of concerns she has regarding how fair and transparent thr process has been (lack of written policy, lack of consistency, them backtracking on something they've said on at least 4 occasions, the fact that they published the advert pre-emptively then removed it when she asked for their redundancy policy) which hopefully she'll get a chance to present at the next meeting.

Once they present the terms of the redundancy package , how best is it to word a question that invites them to propose a settlment?

Also they allowed me to speak at the last meeting- not to answer questions but to ask difficult questions my friend was anxious of asking herself. Can they rescind this permission? Would it reflect poorly on them or would it be of little consequence?

Thanks so much everyone! Your responses have been incredibly helpful.

Emmia

What is your friend actually trying to achieve?

It seems fairly obvious that the employer wants her out, for whatever reason, so even challenging this - and remaining in her job (if that's the aim) is likely to mean an uncomfortable working environment on an ongoing basis

I think your friend should start looking for alternative employment, whatever the outcome of this process. 

mittow

Emmia said:

What is your friend actually trying to achieve?

It seems fairly obvious that the employer wants her out, for whatever reason, so even challenging this - and remaining in her job (if that's the aim) is likely to mean an uncomfortable working environment on an ongoing basis

I think your friend should start looking for alternative employment, whatever the outcome of this process. 

A little extra on top of statutory- that's what she's hoping for. 

Don't worry she will start looking for a new job once this process is over- it is clear they do not want her and she will fight to stay, but she wants to guarantee her statutory and contractural rights are respected at the very least, which she is worried about given their lack of clarity and transparency during this process.

Emmia

mittow said:

Emmia said:

What is your friend actually trying to achieve?

It seems fairly obvious that the employer wants her out, for whatever reason, so even challenging this - and remaining in her job (if that's the aim) is likely to mean an uncomfortable working environment on an ongoing basis

I think your friend should start looking for alternative employment, whatever the outcome of this process. 

A little extra on top of statutory- that's what she's hoping for. 

Don't worry she will start looking for a new job once this process is over- it is clear they do not want her and she will fight to stay, but she wants to guarantee her statutory and contractural rights are respected at the very least, which she is worried about given their lack of clarity and transparency during this process.

Using a solicitor will quickly eat up that little extra... 

I honestly think she's better saving her money and mental health and just moving on... It's arguably not right, but is probably a better outcome.

General_Grant

This must be a private college and not public sector.  Is that right?