Can i force my company to give me redundancy.

[chief2603]

Hi just wondering if anyone can help me with a bit of advice, the company i work for is planning to shut down but they have another place which is a 45 min drive from my house , i currently only take about 10-15 mins to get to work so this is just to far to travel to work.

i have been working for the company for almost 9 years and would prefer to take redundancy but this has not been offered yet and rumours are that they might not have to give us redundancy if they offer us a job somewhere else even if it is so far away from my current location of work.

i have spoken to c.a.b. and they asked if i have a mobility clause in my contract, i've checked my contract and it doesnt mention the words mobility clause but does say "we may ask you to work at other areas of the company depending on business demand"

What i kind of really want to know is can i force my company to give me redundancy if i dont want to travel to work this far, there are other issues as well such as if i finish work at 2pm i need to pick my 3 children up from school at 3pm so it doesnt give me much margin for error if traffic is bad and i get held up(the journey takes 45mins)

I have joined unite the union but am waiting for my registration to come through.

It is also rumoured they will give us some sort of petrol allowance but this will only last so long,

surely my company cant force me to go and work so far from were i currently work.

Thanks for any help given.

[Emmzzi]

45 minutes would not be considered "too far" for a move. the short answer is no, you cannot force them. You are of course free to resign any time....

[chief2603]

Even if it means i'm risking not getting home in time to pick my kids up from school.

Surely this is an unreasonable request.

[IdaInFife]

not really...........

[stu007]

Hi

 

Have you actually discussed this with your employer at all your concerns about collecting kids you never know they may be flexible in the circumstances or you could suggest that you would come in earlier to make up any lost time and see what they say.

 

You will never know unless you ask at least that way you will know the position.

[becky2585]

Contractually what they're asking would ordinarily be reasonable, and an office closure would ordinarily be a redundancy situation.

 

Invoking a mobility clause for a 45 minute journey is reasonable, but only if you can be expected to find alternative arrangements for your children. I would raise this with your employer and point out its not suitable and you believe therefore you should be made redundant given your childcare circumstances. It's a worthy argument at least.