Solicitors In - Being Made Redundant?

Worried about redundancy?

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If you are one of the unlucky employees of the one in three companies making redundancies, it is vital to know your rights – otherwise you may find yourself unfairly dismissed. Your employer has two obligations – the company should have fair reasons for making you redundant and they must follow a fair process.

1 Warning

First, you should receive a letter warning you of potential redundancies. The letter should make it clear that no decisions have been made yet, but explain the reasons why the business is considering this approach.

2 Consultation

To decide who will be made redundant your employer should draw up selection criteria, for which you will be given marks. You should meet with your employer to discuss the situation and explore ways of avoiding the redundancies.

3 The Meeting

You are entitled to bring along a trade union representative or work colleague if you wish. In your meeting you are entitled to ask what the selection criteria is and what marks you have received. You are entitled to challenge this and you should focus your efforts on getting your skills across to your employer.

4 Assisting your employer with solutions

At this stage a decision should not yet have been made and your employer should still be exploring ways to avoid making redundancies. You should participate fully in the process. You can assist your employer to avoid making you redundant by offering solutions such as taking a sabbatical or working part-time.

5 If the employer decides to proceed with your redundancy, what can you do?

If an alternative solution is unviable and your employer decides to proceed with redundancy then you will be invited to a final meeting. Your employer will run through your redundancy package and, again, you can be accompanied by a trade union representative or a colleague.

6 The decision should be in writing

The decision should be confirmed in writing together with the termination date. You should also be offered the opportunity to appeal the decision.

7 Appealing the decision

If you decide to appeal your employer's decision you should be invited to a further meeting to explain why you disagree.

8 When you are made redundant what should your financial package be?

If you are made redundant you are entitled to three payments: A full notice period, a redundancy payment and unclaimed holiday leave.

Full Notice Pay You are entitled to your full notice pay which is usually in your contract, but in the absence of such a provision you can receive statutory notice.

Redundancy Pay There is a statutory amount payable calculated using a specific formula but it is also worthwhile checking whether you have a contractual entitlement to an enhanced redundancy payment. Click here to work out your statutory entitlement.

Unclaimed Holiday Leave You are also entitled to payment for any accrued, but untaken holiday.

9 What to do if you have been treated unfairly

If you feel you have been treated differently from other employees you should consult an employment solicitor as early as possible. There is a time limit of three months from the day you were dismissed to launch a challenge.

10 Reasons for appeal

Anyone who is made redundant should appeal the decision. Failure to do so could mean that any compensation received, should you win your case at a tribunal, is reduced by between 10% and 50%. If your employer did not take the requisite steps in the redundancy procedure or the selection criteria were discriminatory then you could have a case for unfair dismissal. Examples are if there was not a genuine need for redundancy and misapplication of objective criteria. Selection criteria meanwhile are not defined under law but decided upon by your employer, must be performance based and avoid any criteria that may be deemed discriminatory. Under new age discrimination a "last in, first out" policy is no longer permissible. You should consult your employer's policies and procedures guidelines to help get an idea of whether you have a case.

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Solicitors in Maidenhead

Article Reference: takelegaladvice .com/news-and-information/legal-articles/Employment/Redundancies/Redundancy-Employment-solicitors-explain-your-rights/

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