Redundancy

Millershaven

Hi.
I was made redundant a while ago.
Today, some of my ex colleagues received a large sum of money. I didn't. 
How can this be?
Could some of them have contacted a solicitor independently, but as a group?
Can I argue that I should be entitled to this as well?
Thank you.

flaneurs_lobster

It rather depends on exactly what this large sum of money was for.

Without knowing this you can't determine if you might be entitled to payment too.

Ayr_Rage

How long did you work for the company?

Did the company stop trading?

Was it solvent?

So many factors involved it's impossible to know whether you are entitled to anything.

lincroft1710

Exactly when was your final day of work?

Emmia

And how long did you work for them? If your colleague was employed for many years the payment would be higher. 

If less than 2 years, your employer can let you go pretty easily.

Newbie_John

Have a read about redundancy payments. The limit is sth like £20k but to get that you'd need to be on higher salary, work there for 20 years, be of older age 41+ etc.
Also it could be their notice period paid out, or they had redundancy insurance etc.

If you've been there under 2 years then likely there's nothing.

sheenas

When I was made redundant , it was 3month notice, redundancy and discretionary payment to go quietly.

Andy_L

Were your ex-colleagues also made redundant or is this "large sum of money" a, e.g., bonus payment rather than a redundancy package?

MeteredOut

Newbie_John said:

Have a read about redundancy payments. The limit is sth like £20k but to get that you'd need to be on higher salary, work there for 20 years, be of older age 41+ etc.
Also it could be their notice period paid out, or they had redundancy insurance etc.

If you've been there under 2 years then likely there's nothing.

That's just wrong. There is no limit. There are legal minimums for redundancy after 2 yers of service and the employee contract should specify anything over and above that (eg, 1 month per full year of service, capped at 6 months).

The first £30K is tax free and the rest regarded as income. Whether someone is 41+ or below 41 makes no difference - its whats in their contract which is very likely based on years of services.

OP, as others have stated, your years of service and contract should specify what redundancy, if any, you are due. Same for other employees, who might or might not have different redundancy terms in their contract.

Bighitter32

Ask two or three of your ex-colleagues independently what the payment was for (not the values of course, just the reasoning). Not having the details results in guesswork and speculation…. Best get some verifiable facts and go from there.