Pay for notice period AND redundancy period?

scope

Hi,

My wife may be facing redundancy after 10 years service shortly, and I've got a question regarding the pay she is entitled to.

The company handbook says the following:

[FONT=&quot]Period of Continuous Service[/FONT]
Period of Notice

[FONT=&quot]Up to 3 months service[/FONT] - [FONT=&quot]1 week notice[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 months to 4 years[/FONT] - [FONT=&quot]1 month notice[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]For each additional year of completed service thereafter up to the end of the 12th year - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]1 additional [/FONT][FONT=&quot]week[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After the 12th complete year - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]12 weeks[/FONT]


So, having worked for them for 10 years she is entitled to a 10 weeks notice period. Question is, is she also entitled to a 10 week redundancy package aswell? The company will only pay the absolute minimum redundancy (£310 per week).

Will she get 10 weeks pay notice period, 10 weeks redundancy period, or 20 (10 of each).

Also, when somebody is made redundant, can the company hire in the same position without first offering the position to the person they made redundant? (up to a certain period, ofcourse). The company is cutting cost, hence the talk of redundancy.

james10999

Hi,

I'm a HR Advisor so hopefully you'll be able to trust me on this one!

Redundancy pay is calculated on age and length of service. This is how a redundnacy payment is worked out:

0.5 week’s pay for each full year of service where age during year less than 22
1.0 week’s pay for each full year of service where age during year is 22 or above, but less than 41
1.5 weeks’ pay for each full year of service where age during year is 41+

It's also worth checking if your company is going to be paying you your noice in Lieu or if it's going to be made as a discretionary payment. If it's a discretionary payment, this will be a tax free sum.

LittleVoice

If they give ten weeks notice, she will be expected to work through that and no additional payment is due. If she is only expected to work for, say, six weeks, the balance of 4 weeks would be due.

To calculate the amount of redundancy pay, use the calculator on http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page33157.html (It depends on age as well as length of service.)

There is no automatic right to be offered the same position if it becomes available again.

james10999

scope wrote: »

Will she get 10 weeks pay notice period, 10 weeks redundancy period, or 20 (10 of each).

Also, when somebody is made redundant, can the company hire in the same position without first offering the position to the person they made redundant? (up to a certain period, ofcourse). The company is cutting cost, hence the talk of redundancy.

In answer to your questions:

Yes - she will get redundancy pay plus any notice period she is due. The company pay require her to work her notice period however this is rarely the case and normally added to the redundancy payment.

The company cannot recruit for that position whilst the person is going through a consultation period. The company must be proactive to find the employee another suitable position throughout the consultation period and put to the point where potentially the last resort is making the employee redundant.

scope

Thank you for that..

Are you saying she would get BOTH notice of period pay (be it in Lieu or a discretionary payment) (10 weeks as per handbook) and the redundancy pay (a further 10 weeks tax free)?

Terrylw1

Yes, they are.

My dad had worked the maximum period an his company went into liquidation. So, he claimed for 12 weeks of notice and the full X years of redundancy on top of that.

They may ask her to work it, depends on the circumstances. If the company goes into liquidation, some go and some stay to help the solicitors for X weeks.

If the company is still trading which looks to be the case, they may just compromise and ask her to work part to clear down backlogs or until say a dept moves elsewhere.

Worth having a read through this first which may answer some questions about this:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/employment/redundancy.htm#Other_rights_on_redundancy

mjm72

Sorry If I am being thick. But does that mean that as an example:

worked for a company for 10 years (under age 41). company goes bust.

so I would get 10 weeks redundancy pay but how about the 10 weeks notice?

Thanks

Uncertain

mjm72 wrote: »

Sorry If I am being thick. But does that mean that as an example:

worked for a company for 10 years (under age 41). company goes bust.

so I would get 10 weeks redundancy pay but how about the 10 weeks notice?

Thanks

They HAVE to pay the notice in addition to the redundancy payment. However, they can require you to work for some or all of the notice period if they choose.

Jarndyce

Yes you would get both.

On the point about the same position coming up again very soon after her redundancy, whilst she wouldn't have the automatic right to be offered the post, it would be worth looking at the position to see if she had a case for unfair selection.

A redundancy has to be the result of a genuine diminishing of the need for employees to carry out work, and if they have simply got rid of too many people, for example, it may be possible to show that there was not a genuine redundancy situation in your case, but you would need to get advice from your union or directly from an employment lawyer to assess the likelihood of success depending on the facts of the case.

mjm72

Uncertain wrote: »

They HAVE to pay the notice in addition to the redundancy payment. However, they can require you to work for some or all of the notice period if they choose.

But who has to pay the notice period and redundancy payment if the company has gone bust and have no funds?

Do the government step in and pay it all?:)

Rain_is_Insane

mjm72 wrote: »

But who has to pay the notice period and redundancy payment if the company has gone bust and have no funds?

Do the government step in and pay it all?:)

My ex went through this a few years ago, and it was the receivers who dealt with any outstanding monies owed. He was wayyyyyyyy down the pecking order though, and only ended up with 43p for every £1 owed to him