Help Needed About Redundancy

[rippedoff15]

Hi All,

 

Well had the following news from my employer today called me, at present i drive a van all around the UK full time contract, my employer to called and has informed me that due to the increased costs in running the delivery service from their northern warehouse, they will be moving the delivery service to the area to which most delivery are being complete ( London ).

 

They will be sending the vans down to London full time, and they will be employing drivers from the London area to do the job which iam currently doing ( big shock ). Can an employer treat me like this i have never been sick off work and been full time for 19 months. Their are about 10 drivers who have been called regarding this matter and so far the employer has refused to even offer the work to its current staff.

 

1, Can the employer make me redundant

2, Is the employer breaking the law making me redundant with out offering me a move.

3, I get paid monthly what notice do they have to give.

 

 

just so upset the way they called, not even sorry they state is down to costs, however we feel they are just rail roading the drivers out of work. Again i asked if we could take the london driving work and they refused to disscuss the matter any more. we are now waiting for the letter stating your finsihed.

 

 

Just can not be right the way they are treating me and the others. Can anyone help regarding this matter.

 

Cheers

[Emmzzi]

Would you move to London and pay the relocation costs yourself? If not its pretty academic whether you should have been offered.

[rippedoff15]

Just seems wrong the way the employer is treating the staff by make everyone redundant at the northern warehouse and re-employing new staff down south , we have not even been asked to relocate, i would be happy to transfer south but so far not getting any chance. Just leaves a bitter taste.

[Emmzzi]

Make them aware you would e happy to move ? Do it in writing. It'd give a better shot at an unfair redundancy claim if you had an audit trail.

[rippedoff15]

I have asked regarding the employment in London and we all 10 drivers have been told that the new staff have all been employed and starting next week. i did confirm that i would be happy to move to london but the employers has not even given me the chance. to make things worse they have asked me to train the new staff and once they are trained my job is no longer mine just feel used.

 

They have refused to give a redundancy notice time, i have checked my employment contract for what its worth and it states they have to give me month notice, so job hunting now

[rippedoff15]

Around the end of Jan 2013 the company I have been working for the last 19 months delivering furniture to large company customers, to reduce costs my employer has employed 10 new driver/fitters in Feb 2013 who live in the London area. Today I had in writing a letter stating " as they have saved money by employing staff in London area " my job is now redundant. I have until Friday 24th may 2013 to confirm the following

 

1, Apply in writing for a job in London

Question: Can they refuse to increase wages to cover extra living cost.

 

2, Accept voluntary redundancy

 

3, If the staff refuse to accept voluntary redundancy they will select the driver has will have to go

Question: If they state I have been confirm redundant can I ask in how they processed the selection

as I have never had any sick days, no parking tickets, never crashes in company vans.

 

can anyone help with any information, it seems very underhanded that they can employ staff down south first then make me redundant as well as 9 other drivers.

 

 

Cheers

[Emmzzi]

They can refuse to increase wages. You can ask what selection process was followed.

[rippedoff15]

Thanks, I will be sending an email to my employer asking them to confirm the wage to work in London, don`t think they will increase wage at my current wage you could not live in London.

Can I ask what the selection process is before they confirm names who are redundant ? If not and once they confirm in writing can I appeal etc if I think its not fair

 

cheers

[Emmzzi]

You can ask any tiome

[rippedoff15]

Hi, I will be emailing them tonight requesting the selection process, but got a feeling they will refuse

[Emmzzi]

Well, none of us are psychic, so come back when you have an answer....

[becky2585]

How far away from London are you?

 

Are the jobs the same?

 

Are they making all of the same job role redundant, or selecting from only a few?

[rippedoff15]

Hi, we are based in Cheshire, the jobs in London are the same ( Driver / Installer ), they have informed all the Driver / Installers they are being made redundant. I have asked for details relating to the move to London however they are not willing to discuss the wage. Also they will not confirm the selection process ie last in first out, age, damage to vans, sickness. Just don't no where I stand now

 

cheers

[Emmzzi]

read all this?

 

https://www.gov.uk/redundant-your-rights/being-selected-for-redundancy

[rippedoff15]

Well i have asked for informtion regarding the selection process and they refused to discuss the matter. All driver told the outcome wc 10/06/13. My contract states to end they have to give 1 months notice. Worried if they say leave tgey will pay my wages. Just feel like they are bullying staff now.

 

Feel like booking holiday on my company credit card haha. If they did not pay my months wage what could they do if i used my card to the same value !!!!!

 

Joking not going to get the there level.

 

Any feedback cheers

[Emmzzi]

put the request in writing?

[rippedoff15]

Hi. I have requested the information via email and letter on monday. Yet they have refused to confirm. They did state if you accept to relocate your wages will be reduce by £3k year. Which clear i can live in london on that wage, just feel like the company are bullying me now. And their nothing i can do about the issue. Very worried as iam married wuth 3 kids and jobs are hard to find

 

cheers

[Atlas01]

"they have informed all the Driver / Installers they are being made redundant"

 

then the selection process is irrelevant and unless you agree to move and take the pay cut you are redundant and they owe you whatever the rate for your pay/age/service is

 

sorry to be blunt but they can do this as far as i'm concerned, they have reviewed their business and made it more cost effective in the eyes of the law and it is neither feasible or reasonable to expect existing staff to commute half way across the uk every day

 

a redundancy is still a dismissal but i do not see anything that would constitute unfair here if they have made al northern staff redundant who have not opted for the new terms and location

[rippedoff15]

Today they have stated 4 drivers who have to be made redundant on 10th june, therefore we do have the right to ask how they intend to select the staff concerned.

 

The boss then drove out the car park in his brand new 13 plate Aston Martin. GGGRRRRRRR

[rippedoff15]

Well what a shock, no wage increase to move to london. So i have been told i have 2 other options

 

1, accept early redundancy. But they refuse to discuss any offer.

 

2 They will after selection make redundancies.

 

How can i accept now by 5pm friday 24/5 if i do not know how much they are offering.

 

Once the friday has passed we each have a meeting to here the result.

Edited May 23, 2013 by rippedoff15

[ericsbrother]

It seems to me as though they are abusing the process. They should have offered your group the chance of the London jobs, regardless of the differing pay rates and they should have answered all your questions that you posted here. as there are 4 posts going they wont get hammered for what they have done but it would be useful to know how many staff work for the company and how the process selected those that it did. Your employer is treating badly but probably lawfully.

[rippedoff15]

Hi, the company employ over 50 staff total. I have asked what the voluntary redundancy is and told its only nornal redundancy no extra pay. We will be requested to a meeting on 10/6/13 & at that time redundancy will be issued to the staff who have lost their jobs. They will pay all outstanding wage ( my contract states they have to give month notice ) plus any holiday pay. Such a crap company .

 

Will update if any more information is confirmed. On a last point they state they do not have to comply to my request which is asking how they are making the selection. If they refuse and issue redundancy are they bteak the rules.

[Atlas01]

The employer must disclose in writing:

 

• the reasons for the proposed redundancies;
  
• the numbers and descriptions of employees it proposes to make redundant;
  
• the total number of employees of those descriptions employed at the establishment in question;
  
• the proposed method of selecting those who may be dismissed;
  
• the proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, including the period over which the dismissals are to take effect;
  
• the proposed method of calculating any redundancy payments;
  
• the number of agency workers working temporarily for, and under the supervision and direction of, the employer;
  
• the parts of the employer's business in which the agency workers work; and
  
• the type of work that the agency workers carry out.
  

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay

 

i've had too many beers to remember if you have stated how many are in the selection pool as the above may only trigger with x amount redundant

[rippedoff15]

The employer must disclose in writing:

 

• the reasons for the proposed redundancies;
  
• the numbers and descriptions of employees it proposes to make redundant;
  
• the total number of employees of those descriptions employed at the establishment in question;
  
• the proposed method of selecting those who may be dismissed;
  
• the proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, including the period over which the dismissals are to take effect;
  
• the proposed method of calculating any redundancy payments;
  
• the number of agency workers working temporarily for, and under the supervision and direction of, the employer;
  
• the parts of the employer's business in which the agency workers work; and
  
• the type of work that the agency workers carry out.
  

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay

 

i've had too many beers to remember if you have stated how many are in the selection pool as the above may only trigger with x amount redundant

 

Great non of the information you have stated has been given by my employer, their are 10 driver and only 6 posts, according to my employer they will confirm meeting next week where they intend to give more details. However they have already stated they WILL NOT GIVE SELECTION DETAILS. So in the meeting can I ask for details you listed, as they do employ 9 staff via agency in the warehouse under the title Warehouse/driver.

[rippedoff15]

They have quote as follows

 

Thank you for your email below.

Regarding the southern posts, the hours of work are the same total as the Chester based contracts being 50 hours per week but worked over 5 days, Tuesday to Saturday. Remuneration is the same as for the Chester based drivers ie basic of £18,500 plus maximum bonus of £200 per month. When establishing the Southern base and taking on the first 2 drivers there we benchmarked local salaries. We were surprised to see that the existing salary level was very competitive and our advertising of the vacancy resulted in many good applications. The salary is probably in the second quartile when comparing with similar vacancies. There is no relocation assistance to be provided. As the financial case for operating 2 vans from the south is compelling we wish to fill the southern vacancies as soon as we can. If any northern drivers are wanting to relocate we will need to discuss their early availability to take up the position urgently.

Regarding your request to confirm our process of selection and when this is likely to be confirmed, I repeat what was put in the letter to you dated 17th May, “…..We will contact you straight away after we have considered any applications to move south or for voluntary redundancy….”. As we asked for requests for either of these two options by 24th May we will be inviting all those affected to consultation meetings and will contact you next week about a suitable meeting time. It is at this meeting that the selection process will be explained.

So in plain terms move to London on northern wages , or take voluntary redundancy ( they refuse to discuss the amount ), if we do not reply by 24th May 2013 they will close that option and start redundancy meeting etc etc etc.

Seems they are hell bent in getting rid of the drivers in a poor way, I have been told today sat 25th may 2013 they have already started the southern drivers and we are going to be ordered to train them to do the job during our notice period.