After 25 years with my employer, a large UK financial business, I am being made redundant at the age of 51 as they are closing my office. They offered me Voluntary Redundancy with enhanced terms on the basis I signed an agreement giving up my right to an undiscounted pension which may be otherwise payable on my redundancy. (Due to my length of service, I still have a final salary pension). I have not been given a reason why I have had to sign this other than 'it's policy'. I was hoping to take Early Retirement but the minimum pension age is 55 now. None of my other colleagues have been given this agreement as far as I know but it could be they are either no longer in the final salary scheme or are over 55. I wondered of anyone had thoughts on :- a) Should I have been offered Independent Legal Advice as I have been given an agreement to sign? b) The implications if I don't sign the agreement - could they make me take another job elsewhere? c) Even though they are not offering me Early Retirement, could there be this option open in view of the wording the agreement? Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

Hi, thought I'd see if I could find any useful advice here. I'm very anxious so any good pointers much appreciated! I'll keep it as brief as I can: I'm a one-man IT dept for a medium size organisation - permanent position that has risen in seniority over 12 years. My line manager is proposing a reorganisation that will end my current role and replace it with an extremely similar role on a 2-year fixed term contract. Redundancy is an option, and I am unsure as yet if 'they' are keen for me to take it, or take the new role. I want to stay on, and I believe the new role is precisely my current role just with a new job title and an improved job description. My current job description is pretty vague, but the new role describes precisely the work I have been doing for years. The only real difference is that some more junior responsibilities will be removed and given to a new, junior role (which is great). If I take the new role on 2yr FTC, I presume I will not get redundancy at the end of that contract if they choose to let me go. I cannot afford to lose my job security like that! I have a 1st consultation coming up, and I will argue that the new role represents what I do currently. So my questions are... Can they do this? If I can prove that the new role describes precisely what I currently do, can they still make my post redundant and leave me with the choice of changing to FTC? If I took the FTC, might I nevertheless be considered to have been continuously employed for my 12 years+, and would that render the 'fixed term' irrelevant as I would be considered permanent in law? I don't know, but this is a possibility I have gathered might be the case from googling around. If 'they' would rather I left, can they even make me redundant when they are replacing my role with such a materially similar one, albeit FTC? I have absolutely no history of failing to perform or being told of any problems with my work, so there are no grounds for dismissal. As I said I'm going to argue that the new role is my current role, I want it, and I don't want to be FTC. I think I have a good case, but I'd love to be able to reference actual laws that back up this position! Thanks again if anyone has any guidance.

We learned yesterday that our entire catering team are to be made redundant as the contract we are working under has been terminated. But we also know that the new building owner has every intention of providing catering when they take over in a few months! This cannot be fair and surely that is what the TUPE regulations are designed for - does anyone have any advice?

Hi guys! This is my first ever post on here and I'm in desperate need of help. I was employed as an apprentice from June 2015 working towards my NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service. Originally, my NVQ was supposed to end in October 2016 but as my employer refused to let me work towards it (I was told that absolutely everything else in the office took priority over my NVQ work) the end date was extended by my NVQ assessor to October 2017. When my end date was extended, my NVQ assessor informed me that the minimum wage I was entitled to would have increased in June 2016 (after completing my first year of employment) and that my employer had been paying me below this amount for the past 4 months. My assessor told me that they would pass this information on to my manager and confirmed that they had done so via email. Four weeks passed with no mention of this at work at all. My NVQ assessor came into the office to help me get started on the next part of my course. At the end of the day, they asked me if anything had been said about my wage increasing and the money that I was owed. I confirmed that nothing had been mentioned. She went and had a word with my manager and came back and told me that my employer knows that they need to back pay me and that they were going to deal with it shortly. Two days later, my manager asked me to go to a one-to-one meeting where they confirmed that I was going to be back paid the amount of money that I was owed but that, due to a move-around in our department, my position no longer existed and that I would be out of a job this time next week. I was told that there were no problems with my performance, only that my role didn't exist anymore. A reshaping of our department had never been discussed, nor was I ever told that my role might not be there in the future. I was also only given 6 days notice when my contract said that I was entitled to a minimum of 3 weeks. Also, no-one else in the company has lost their job as a result of the reshuffle: I am the only person to have been negatively affected by this. I called ACAS and they told me to write down everything that I think my employer did wrong in a letter and then send it to my employer. The lady on the phone then said to wait 14 days and try to begin the early conciliation process. She told me that it sounded like what my employer did to me was illegal and I've gone through loads of other articles online posted by Law Firms which all seem to suggest that this I have been made redundant unfairly. I was just wondering what other people make of this? Has my employer acted wrongly and am I right in looking to escalate this? I'm really distressed due to the time of year where this has happened and I just want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing. Thank you all so much! Any help is greatly appreciated.

Good morning all! Basically after a bit of advice. The company that i work in has been taken over and we all got TUPE'd over and after reorganisation of the company I am going to be made redundant in the near future. Being disabled I am only fit enough to work about 22 hours a week and I get enhanced rate in both the Mobility and Care components of PIP (as well as Disabled tax credit which will end soon after I am made redundant). I presumed after being made redundant I would be able to go on JSA whilst I found another part time job. But then I discovered that like most areas single claimants are now being told to claim for Universal Credit. However having looked into UC (and testing the waters by applyiing online) I see I can not apply for it because I am on PIP. So what benefit am I meant to apply for?

Hi, I'd appreciate some advice if possible? I work 2 days per week in a shop. Although I've been there for 12 years I only signed a contract last year when the owner put the business up for sale. My contract states that i am employed for 2 days per week. I told the owner yesterday that I am only able to do 1 day going forward. (Since she has had no luck selling the business and keeps suggesting she may just close up I have found other work which is now more important to me). I don't want to make life any harder for her and have offered for that one days work to be flexible and on a day of her choosing. By saying i can no longer do the contracted 2 days have I breached the contract? Have I effectively handed in my notice? Can anyone clarify my position please and suggest where i may stand depending on what she offers (or not) ? Thank you...hope I've not made this too muddled?

Hi all I work for a local charity and following advice that my department (I am the manager) was due to be 'restructured' and having been advised that my job was 'at risk' of redundancy, a new post was created with a new title and with my old job description modified a bit. The salary was also increased a little. It was advertised externally and I had to apply and be interviewed. I was unsuccessful, the reason given that there were candidate(s) with 'stronger' skills and experience. I will be redundant with effect from the end of March and paid statutory redundancy pay. The newly appointed manager will be doing what I was doing before (but without my experience of the organisation, set up, local knowledge etc.). I have an unblemished employment record, am highly respected by my peers (or so I'm told) I get on well with everyone (or so I thought) and have last years appraisal in which the CEO values me as an asset to the organisation who has performed well in difficult circumstances following the completion of a significant project last year. I feel I may have been 'dispensed with' because I supported one of my staff who had been verbally abused in front of other staff by a director. I encouraged him to follow the laid down grievance procedure. It seems the CEO has a reputation for 'bullying' tactics and does not like his (or his directors) authority being challenged. The abusive director has a similar 'management style'. Another factor may be that I am 65 in May although I had no intentions of retiring for a few years yet. I also had a minor health scare (cardiac) last year but have now been given the 'all clear' by a consultant following various tests. I have always kept fit and well and have only had 3 days off work in the 2.5 years I have worked for this organisation. I loved the job, the people and the valuable contribution the charity makes to the local community. I now have to find employment at the age of 65 and more than likely relocate as accommodation in this area is expensive and I cannot afford to live here with pensions due that will not even cover the rent on my present flat. This whole distressing episode has left me wondering whether I have a case for unfair dismissal. Is there anyone with similar experiences of 'restructuring', changed job titles and job descriptions, leading to redundancy?

I’ll try to be as brief as possible whilst giving all relevant info, so please bear with me! I have worked for the same company for almost 5 years, initially I was employed part time but within a yr was made full time. The company had been downsizing for a couple of years and had gone from a six company outfit down to one company, although the last company had gone into administration and wound up, it continued to operate as always but had added uk ltd to its former company name. The staff were retained but no employment contracts were given and they used the services of an agency to pay our wages through, having investigated said agency it would appear that it was set up for the sole purpose of administering our wages as the incorporation date and details coincide with the start up of the new company, also I discovered that the company behind the agency is registered to the same address as the accountants used by my employer, I don’t know how relevant that is. Any way I worked an 8am -5pm day , mon-fri for the past almost five years. We were given 21 days holiday per yr, overtime was compensated by time off in lieu, and sick pay at managers discretion, I was never sick so don’t know how that actually worked. I think that brings us up to date, so I was on annual leave for 10 days and on the final day my boss rang me and said, things have happened Im not sacking you but im gonna have to make you redundant, don’t come in tomorrow!! This method has been employed by her for at least the last 4 employees that I know of!! So I had just been paid my monthly salary and we were at the end of a month. I expected to be paid something the end of August but nothing, when I called I was informed that I was due nothing as I has been sacked?! I tried to clarify this but my calls go to answerphone – any advice would be appreciated.

question from the brother in law hes just been made redundant (unipart) he has two cars on finance (differnt companies), one he is going to sell once paid off (3 months to go), the other is the one he uses and he has only paid 4 months on he has been offered another job (well 2) but wont see any redundancy money or new wages for approx 2 months, during which he will be unable to pay his finance ive suggested that he contact them the one he doesnt drive, hes going to ask for a break of 2 months then pay the lot in full on the last month, if he gets told no on this ive told him to point out it would cost them alot more to get the court order to reclaim (plus more to find the car) than it would to let him do it the only one hes worried about is the one he currently uses, hes going to ask for the payment holiday again but hes a bit worried if they say no any ideas?

Hello, I became bankrupt in December 2011, and have confirmed that I was discharged in Dec 2012. In June 2012 I was issued an Income Payment Agreement, under the terms of which I must pay £105 per month until June 2015. I have just been made redundant and am now ( temporarily I hope) unemployed. The redundancy payment made to me was £12k. My question is simply, is the redundancy money mine to keep, or, despite the fact I am discharged, is it still possible for the OR to claim some or all of this money ( the sum owed at bankruptcy was £37k )? thanks

Hi all, I have had some problems with work since November as I needed to take time off due to a disability. I had asked for months for SSP but they kept ignoring me and not giving a reply to my request. They then became quite nasty threatening me with dismissal even though I was following correct procedure. I eventually got some sick pay in March but they would not give me all of it and would not say in person or writing why. I got about 10 weeks SSP out of 18 weeks and supplied fit notes for another 17 days since then but they have not given me anymore nor given me a reason once again. Since March bank holidays they have not paid me for them, that's 4 in total and my contract says I should be paid but they have not paid me still nor given me a reason why. I started to go back to work recently as I am well now but they have made me redundant, they gave me the proper notice and told me I would receive any holiday that I have not taken in my final pay. They have now just told me I am not going to get anything but once again not why. I have asked and asked but they are now ignoring me. They gave me a letter telling me I would get the holiday pay. Everything was okay with them until I needed time off since November. They have not done this to anyone else and paid everyone else their holiday that is left over. When I say them I mean my manager and two company directors, mostly the directors. My manager also moaned to other people about me when I was not in saying "He did not tell us he had this when he applied for the job". They owe me over £1000 but are telling me they are only going to give me £42 and once again are not replying when asking for the reasons. I spoke to the CAB and they said it seems like a case of serious disability discrimination, unlawful deduction of wages and hurt feelings. Also they say it could be constructed dismissal hidden behind redundancy as after 10 weeks of not paying me correctly and not paying me the correct amount of SSP since November. They say I could have resigned due to breach of contract and claimed constructed dismissal. I am a bit unsure what to do really, does it seems like I have a case? It's just the stress they have caused me has made my epilepsy worse and going through a tribunal might bring it on all over again but I don't want them to get away with it and I kind of need the money they owe me at least. Thanks all.

Hello, Need to get to the bottom of this pretty quick. THe company I currently work for have identified my role as at risk due to it not being financially viable. I agree and to be honest will be happier out working for myself. When I start up my own buisiness, the company I will be leaving have a number of commissions that they really could do with me finishing and hence I have suggested the easiest thing would be to sub contract the work back to my limited company. The 'boss' is open to the idea but is not sure if he legally can. Does anyone know if this is correct? My view is: I am in agreement the full time role I am currently in is no longer viable and once my contract ends I can't see why they shouldn't sub the remaining bits of work to me - it gives me a starter for 10 meaning I have some income on day 1, and makes sure they deliver what they committed to for their clients. It seems crackers that the law would force them to give it to some other self employed person! thanks

Hi to anyone who reads this, i just want to know a few things about my current employment. I currently work for a big loft insulation company, they are proposing to make 8/27 technicians redundant and i unfortunately appear to be one of the 8. The government have cut back funding and it means my company need to adjust as there is too many technicians to work available. the way they have chosen the 8 ppl is from score cards from june last year up until december. attendance/quality/complaints etc.. I feel as though some of the lads that have been kept on shouldnt have been and i should be in there position. one guy is currently banned from driving for punching a drivers wing mirror in road rage etc. where as i have 100% attendance ,3 years service and 4 small complaints which they have not told me or i know of !!... my question is... do i appeal? ,,, i thought that to be made redundant either the job title has to be gone, or the the company has gone?,,, my job was on the commercial and domestic side... although they are still insulating jobs on new build, and the lads they are keeping on have applied for there CSCS cards as the work is currently there.... also i thought that anyone with at least 2 years service is entitled to be trained on something different? most of the lads i work with are shocked that i have fell into this 8 crop of lads and i really do feel as though my high work ethic and reliability doesnt deserve this over some other people. what shall i do? thank you to anyone who reads this, i have until tomorrow to appeal, they have given me a list of jobs within the company i can apply for although i have no experience and feel as though this is just there way of making out there offering me a job

Hi all, Writing this for my daughter actually.. Yesterday , completely out of the blue , my daugther and 3 others were called to a meeting and told of their position ( in my daughters case, an assistant Editor) was to be made redundant. She has been in this post for the last 5 years. She was told that she could apply for voluntary, but this offer, with no details whatsoever is only available for about 24 hours or so . ?? So far there is no indication of any written notice appearing . The actual current editorial work is still on going and is most definitely going to to be passed to another "safe" employee" . The contract of employment aligns basically with the legal minimums . for 5 yrs 5 X weeks salary. It also has a clause stating my daughter is NOT allowed to be employed in a similar capacity with any publishing company for a minimum of 6 months ?. Is this enforceable ?? or legal ? Any redployment looks unlikely as the local workforace is very smaill in number and the only cummute option is 120 miles by train..so with 2 kiddies not an option. My daughter has only recently returned to work from maternity leave ( she is a single parent) and during that time, the HR dept made a total hashup of the p-leave and accused my daughter of not apply for it .( this after 8mths !) . But having kept copies and emails we were able to show the HR manger was lying about the situation and she had to eventually back down. Because of this , we have a suspicion this is slightly more than a business decision , rather more personal ! well one would wouldn't one . I know this is a long story .. but Any advice peeps ?? thanks in advance.. Chris

I have just returned from 2 weeks holiday to find my redundancy notice letter left on my desk. I had been informed my job was at risk just prior to going on leave. The letter was dated the 2nd day of my leave and says i have 7 days to appeal, which had already passed before i opened it.!!! Can my employer issue my notice in such a way??

Just wondered if I might get some help in the area of my current situation, any help would be greatly received; I have been a lorry driver for some years having worked for Eddie Stobart until my health deteriorated. Taking stock of my situation and failing health, (I asked for help and this was not available apparently!) I resigned my position as HGV Driver. My brothers partner (transport manager for a tanker operator) told me they have a job. Since she knew about my condition, she said the work was 4 on 4 off which we both agreed, might be better given my medical challenges. I worked for sometime and actually enjoyed the work. Having been trained up, I soon took to delivering bulk powder in tankers. My health deteriorated further to the point where I felt it unsafe to drive and in-brief, had to increase my medication (owing to the pain) making me more susceptible to fatigue. I went on to SSP and have provided my company with all assistance including visiting the company appointed Doctor for a report. No offers of assistance were forthcoming and it was only until my then manager (now working at another depot returned to provide cover for the new transport managers holiday period) informed me that my SSP would soon expire as I had been sick for approaching 6 months. I was unaware this was the case and she said she would post something soon and update my manager when he returned from his holiday. On his return he said the medical reports were vague in terms of my return and the best thing to do given the circumstances was for me to sign an agreement where they paid me off and I "could not sue us for unfair dismissal". Although the money sounds good right now having come close to financial ruin, I feel that my employer could have done more to find me alternative work, especially given they are one of the biggest names in their field and have many contracts in my area. I think the offer being proposed includes paying me my full salary for the notice period and any outstanding holiday pay. Am I right to think they should have offered me assistance in getting back to work or discussing alternatives? I wanted to work for this company and still do but feel someone somewhere is failing in their duties. Any help or advice would be welcome.

My husband was made redundant on the 17th Aug. He did not hear anything for 10 days and contacted them to ask when his redundancy payment would be made. He subsequently received a letter saying he had been reinstated and immediately suspended on suspicion of keeping company files and for contacting companies looking for jobs during the consultation period. He doesn't have any company files but they are sending a private forensic computer investigator to audit our home IT equipment and refusing to pay any redundnacy. They have also said he can't contact anyone else looking for a job. Both ACAS and a lawyer have said they can't do this and he is effectively redundant but they insist they can. Where do we go next?

Hi Sorry if this post is misplaced or echoes another previously posted also I wont mention any names or any personal details in this as I am purely after guidance and dont intend to cause anybody any trouble. I was offered and accepted a job in a small catering business at 40 hours per week. The buisness only employed three full time staff. After nine days of work I was informed by the buisness owner i would be let go due to slow business. Effective immediately I was made redundant and have in writing it was due to no fault of my own. Nether other members of staff knew about this and neither have had there hours reduced or lost there positions. I have asked and received in writing that I have been let go due to no fault in my performance but due to slow trade. I do feel slightly hard done by as there was no consultation and I seem to have been the sacrificial lamb in all this mess. I had no official written contract but a verbal one and a mixture of email and text exchanges and had also completed in my own time a food hygiene accreditation at the request of business owner, Just wondering if anyone can help advice me if I have any rights on this or if I lust need to accept I have been unfortunate Thanks for reading and if you want any more detail i will be happy to respond Cheers!

After working for a Company for the past 18 years, holding many, many different positions within the Company. I was informed 2 weeks ago that the Company were restructuring again & my job role was being made redundant. 4 'new' job roles ( 1 Quality Manager & 3 Quality Auditor's ) were created & i along with others were encouraged to apply for these jobs & after various one to one meetings & an interview i was finally informed yesterday by telephone ( Due to being off sick ) of the Companies decision that i had failed in my application & therefore would indeed be made redundant. I am currently on 12 weeks gardening leave where at the end of this period i will receive 19 weeks redundancy money. Now, my bugbear with the Companies decision is that i am, in my honest opinion the most qualified ( Having Certification & Experience of all aspects ) person who has been doing most of what the job role entails for the past several years & to not be deemed good enough for one of these 3 roles beggars belief. When informed of the decision i took it gracefully & without complaint or argument but, the more i thought about it the more irate i have become, i have decided to telephone the individual who carried out the interview & ask for a one to one to ask the reason(s) why i was not chosen & then to appeal the decision & then if need be claim for Unfair Dismissal. At the present time this is more of a rant & to vent my frustrations than a thread asking for advice ( Unless someone has any advice which they would like to offer ) Thank you for listening.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I have been searching and can not find my exact problem. My fiancee is on maternity and due to return to work in November (although she was considering extending this). She doesn't wish to go back full time, so contacted her boss recently to discuss her options of either changing her hours, extended her maternity leave and/or find out any other possibilities available to her. She was asked to go into the office to meet with her boss to discuss what she would like to do, which, of course she did, and when she arrived, there was actually a HR representative waiting to meet with her too. During this meeting (after she had advised of the options she was thinking of), she was told that her role was actually at risk of redundancy. They further stated that now they aware of her considerations, they would like to go away, consider her points and reconvene the following week. That meeting took place today and it was confirmed to her that some of the remit of her role, that was being completed in her absence, had already been made 'redundant' and it was re-iterated that her role in its entirty was at risk (the remainder or her duties). They offered her a redundancy package to take effect from her original (i.e. not extended) return to work date and that the meeting they were having today was, in fact, her first (and possibly only) consultation meeting. They were good enough to offer a possible role in the call centre (which will be a telephony sales based role and nothing like her current role), but couldn't / wouldn't offer any further details on it during the meeting. With all of that background knowledge, can anybody advise me please if this all seems 'above board' as she's been very taken aback by the whole situation and wasn't aware that she could be made redundant whilst on maternity leave and was merely trying to discuss her return (date, hours etc) with her boss when she first made contact? I guess what I'm trying to find out is, can they do this and are they conducting the process in a fair and just (legal?) way? Also, without going into detail, the redundancy package they put forward seems pretty poor, is there a 'threshold' that her offer should fall between? Any advice will be very much appreciated.

My company is embarking on a program of redundancies as a cost saving measure. We are currently coming to the end of 'collective consultation'. We asked the question "Is there a voluntary redundancy programme?" the answer was that there is no official program, but you can put yourself forward and the company would consider it. The cuts are drastic (about 70%). Some people would prefer to be made redundant. I am considering putting myself forward but I am not really sure what the risks are? Where does that leave me afterwards, if I am declined? i.e. once I 'show my cards' as it were? Collective consultation ends quite soon and then I guess we will find out who has been 'put at risk'. If I am NOT selected, perhaps that would be the best time to put myself forward? Or is there any downsides of leaving it until after collective consultation? Would be grateful of any advice esp. if there are risks I am overlooking. I have been through redundancy programs (and survived) several times before, but I have never wanted to leave before. Thanks.

Hello, This is my first post in this forum but i'm hoping that a few of you could kindly give me some advice. My organisation is currently in the middle of the TUPE process and the new employers have offered me another possition within the company although this is only part time and for a fixed term compared to my current full time permanant contract. Becasue the new possitions T&C's are no where like my current T&C's i have the choice of redundancy if i refuse the new possition. My question is - Am i entitled to redundancy money at the end of the fixed term, part time contract they are offering or will i be left with nothing at the end of the 12 months. The new employers said i wouldnt be entitled to anything but i am a little sceptical whether this is the case or not. Hope this makes sense and i hope you can advise. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Bredmaker

Hi there, I am looking for some help on my impending redundancy. I am a trainee, and work in the Civil Engineering private sector. I was advised last week that I am at risk of redundancy along with the rest of the team as they want to close the close the office. Others in the office have been relocated to another local(ish) office but we did not have that option. I am a trainee, and am referred to as such in all correspondence and even on my confirmation of redundancy risk letter. I wonder if it is actually legal to make a trainee redundant? I don't think it is morally, or ethically, right to do so but I guess it's down to what the law says - and that's where I'm stuck. The law seems quite murky on this subject and am struggling to get my head around it. If I am made redundant I will effectively be left on the scrap pile in the immediate future as I haven't finished my college training/qualifications. I am more than capable of doing the job, and in fact lead others (but that's a different story I guess), it's just the fact that I don't have the qualifications to put down on paper in my CV that puts prospective employers off so I don't know what I am going to do. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated! Thanks