Help with redundancy and the dreaded suitable alternative employment

polska1979

Hello everyone,

I hope someone can help with my situation.

My role is being made redundant in 2 weeks time, our section was relocated. We have been in our 90 day consultation period for a while now and in this time I have managed to get myself another job externally. The company that has offered me the new job wanted me to give in my 4 weeks notice and start, however when I applied for early release from the 90 day period so I could start my new job. HR wrote back to me saying that if I left before the end of my ninety day period I would waive any right I had to severance and would effectively be resigning. I took this to my new company and they were fine to wait til the end of my 90 day period to start with them...So I signed the offer (more money, better prospects etc).
My current company offered me suitable alternative employment a couple of weeks ago as they said my house was close enough to travel to the other location, They dropped this SAE after I moved in with my friend.
Obviously, I want the redundancy which stands at around 5k. I'm buying a house for the 1st time later this year and it would be a great help. And i've got a job to go into.
Now, I have had yesterday off as I was doing an exam at college and had a lot of revisig to do. when Ive come back in meetings took place with the 5 staff that hadnt already accepted SAE, we (not me as yet due to being off) were told that there was only jobs deemed suitable for 4 of us and redundancy would be being paid to the person with the longest service.

We have been given these roles and been told we have a week to appeal against the roles. Ive looked at various sites and read up on what can be deemed to be SAE etc. The roles are Admiistration roles which dont seem to have the same status as IT analyst, but then again our role description was changed a while back to customer service advisor!!!

Is there anyway in which we can get redundancy instead of taking this sae or declining the sae and walking out after the 90 day period??

Also, in the staff booklet that was given to us they state
"No ;ess than 2 weeks prior to the end of the 3 month period, a final meeting will be held to advise that the process has reached its conclusion, and to confirm the end of your contract of employment"

This meeting was never held and last Friday was "2 weeks prior to the end of the 3 month period"

Could this make a difference?

Hope someone can help or advise on how to get severance.

Squiffy

Hmm, this is tricky.

Unfortunately it all comes down to what is 'reasonable'.

If the location for the new role is substantially different to your previous one, then you have reasonable grounds to insist on redundancy. But 'reasonable' is hard to define.

For example, if you drive 20 miles east of your home to work, then a relocation to an office 20 miles west of your home makes no difference, and a refusal to accept this would not be reasonable.

If your new journey is substantially longer or more expensive, then you probably would have reasonable grounds.

As to the change of role... Any suitable alternative should be commensurate with your skills, experience and seniority. A Suitable Alternative must also preserve your existing salary, terms & conditions. How much different is the new job in the skills it will use? There might be a case here, but it all comes down to that dreaded 'reasonable' test. Is the 'administration' role going to be of lower status than your current one? Do existing people in that role work on the same salary & T&Cs as you? These are all the factors you need to consider.

Have you spoken to HR? What do they say? Are they insisting that you cannot have redundancy?

polska1979

I wont know which role they have deemed suitable until tomorrow when I have a meeting with HR, union and management. HR have said that severance will be paid if SAE cant be found.
The roles that they have found have been created, there is no one working in them at the moment.
I'll let you know what happens

Squiffy

OK, good luck.

I'm being made redundant as of this Thursday, so I know exactly what you are going through. :cool:

Murtle

do you have a current job description that details what your current role is doing?? if they offer you this administration role, ask for a copy of the job description. You can then look over the two roles and determine if they appear similar.

Look at this site

http://www.acas.org.uk/publications/B08.html#5a

at the TRIAL PERIOD section - I think this should apply to you, (I think I read you had been given notice of redundancy???! - sorry if I'm wrong about that)

Good luck - why do companies make a stressful period even more stressful????!!!

(I've been through this twice....both CR, hopefully they'll leave my next job in the UK!!)

oops forgot to add the link!!

Nile

I've been threatened with redundancy in one job and have also been made redundant once in another job.......so I can understand how it feels for you.

I just wanted to offer my best wishes to Polska1979 and Squiffy, sorry I can't offer any practical help........but hope that you both get employment soon.

CrazyIndianZA

Been there as well.

All I can say is be positive. Employment agents want to know that you have no chip on your shoulder. If you are offered outplacement, take it. It is always good to have an independent person to talk to.

Above all...make sure you exercise regularly to keep the stress off...