Redundancy Issues

[purejayne]

Hi everyone - I've had some good advice here in the past and wonder if anyone can help with this.

 

I have been employed by a firm of solicitors for 11 years. I am 42 years of age and work 33 hours a week. I work with another co-worker who is 63 and has been there for 19 years and works 28 hours a week. We do basically the same duties, ie typing/filing/secretarial.

 

Yesterday our boss came to the office and said that due to the current climate one of us had to take voluntary redundancy and that we had to decide between ourselves which one it was. He called me in to the office first and offered me a package of £6,000 to go immediately if there was no fuss. I asked him if the same had been offered to the other worker and he said that yes a deal would be offered to her. He said if the firm had to go down the road of point scoring ie attendance/timekeeping etc then the offer would be withdrawn and he would pick who to go himself. He then called my co-worker in and apparently told her the same.

 

What I need to know is :-

 

1. Who would the firm legally be obliged to make redundant out of the two of us if neither was prepared to leave ? Can length of service be taken into account?

 

2. I originally was employed to work for the fee-earner we both work for doing conveyancing work. The other 63 years old worker came onto our Department four years after me. Would this affect anything?

 

3. I may be being paranoid but I think I am being singled out for the redundancy as I am unsure as to whether the same offer has been put to my co-worker. How do I deal with this?

 

4. What is the criteria used to make someone redundant?

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Jayne.

[elche]

A) He called me in to the office first and offered me a package of £6,000 to go immediately if there was no fuss.

 

1. Who would the firm legally be obliged to make redundant out of the two of us if neither was prepared to leave ? Can length of service be taken into account?

 

2. I originally was employed to work for the fee-earner we both work for doing conveyancing work. The other 63 years old worker came onto our Department four years after me. Would this affect anything?

 

3. I may be being paranoid but I think I am being singled out for the redundancy as I am unsure as to whether the same offer has been put to my co-worker. How do I deal with this?

 

4. What is the criteria used to make someone redundant?

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Jayne.

 

A) Check out BNP Paribas v Mezzoterro - To do this is a legal nightmare for your employer and 'could' lead to an argument of constructive dismissal on your part - a high risk strategy - do not do without first seeking expert F2F advice

 

1) Yes LOS can be taken into account. But age discrim means that after 5 yrs no further points can be awarded for LOS. And remembering that LOS should be one of a number of objective selection criteria

 

2) Surely this makes you more experienced then?

 

3) By submitting a grievance alleging such

 

4) If selection is from a 'pool' as in your case, it should be via a scoring system based on criteria that are a) if possible agreed with the employees in advance and b) that are mainly objective

 

Che

[purejayne]

Thank you very much Che - I will arrange to see a solicitor first thing on Monday - I have an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. Don't know if you know the answer to this one though - my colleague has signed her Contract of Employment to say that she will leave the Company at 60 but she is still there at 63. Is this enforceable in a redundancy situation or does this come under age discimination laws?

 

Jayne.

[elche]

Is this enforceable in a redundancy situation or does this come under age discimination laws? Jayne.

 

Do you mean enforceable by you? i.e. you tell your employer he should make her red before you because she has signed this clause?

[purejayne]

I mean should he take this into account when making a selection for redundancy between myself and her or can he say to her that she has signed this clause, it is part of her Contract of Employment and therefore she should be made redundant based on this. I don't know whether it is illegal now because of age discrimination and therefore not enforceable in law and cannot be taken into account.