Been made redundant...is it legal?

R

roundrachel

Silver Member
well, things were getting back on track and yesterday I recieved a letter to tel me I'm being made redundant.

It's not entirely unexpected as we're having a restructure (second one in 18 months!) but from what I can see, two of the posts in the new structure have almost exactly the same job description as mine at the moment. So technically, I should have been offered one of these jobs.

Does anyone know anything about these things? Most of us who've been made redundant seem to think there's a possibility they're not following employment law. We don't have a union so have will have to go to citizens advice.

I work in a pretty specialised area and there aren't exactly lots of jobs at the best of times, let alone during a recession!

I'm prepared to put up a fight on this one. I love my job and don't want to lose it. Plus I've just got too much debt to miss even a month's income.

Funnily enough, I've not turned to food in my time of need but the gym instead!
 
It depends. Where I work, we lost 35% of the workforce. There were around 50 people doing the same role as me, and 10 of those were made redundant. Becuase the it was the role that was redundant - e.g. they needed 40 people doing the role instead of 50.

I suppose the question that has to be asked, is where are they filling the two roles you mention from?

I hope that you're ok, Rachel - I know exactly how you feel. I was safe last time, but when it happens again, it could be all of us. And it's scary.

Am really proud of you for not turning to food *hugs*
 
Thanks Andy. The thing is, there are six of us doing the job at the moment and there are six jobs with practically the same job description. All of us have been made redundant though. Doesn't seem to make much sense at the moment given they're going to have to recruit six new people to do the job we've all be doing for the past 18 months. Surely this is unfair dismissal? Doesn't seem above board that's for sure and we're not a bunch of happy campers right now!!

Hope you're doing well xx
 
That does sound dodgy, Rachel, so I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I don't know enough about the laws - so please do speak to CAB asap.
 
Sorry to hear that Rachel.

One thing you must be clear on, is a company can not make PEOPLE redundant - they make the ROLE redundant. It's against employee law to make an individual redundant - so make sure they are using the right terminology.

How different are the new roles to the one you currently do? They have to differ by a certain amount (can't remember off the top of my head what that amount is, but I'll find out). Once a role has been made redundant a company cannot recruit the same (or very similar) role until a certain time period has elapsed.

Have you been told your role is redundant, or have you been put in to consultation?

If you let me know the answers to those I'll see if I can help further, if I can't I have an employee law specialist in my team that I can speak to for you tomorrow.
 
Hi Rachel, sorry about your news ... Going to the CAB is a good idea, but until you get a chance to see them, check out the employment section of their advice guide.
Employment

Also, your local lawcentre may be able to give you more specific advice ... also free, but also queueing system, at least in my area.

Also, remember there is a limit for the amount of time allowed to challenge these things with employers. Sorry I can't remember the specifics.

Good luck!
 
I have been told my role has been made redundant. I was a "Consultant" (don't want to identify job title on here). There were six of us. There are now six "Adviser" jobs in the new structure. I've compared the job descriptions and there is about an 80% match which, as you say, suggests to me by law that they have to offer us the adviser posts. Just changing the title but not the actual job isn't a legal way of getting rid of people I'm sure!

They will be offering the Adviser posts externally. We've been through a 3 month consultation and I was initially 'displaced' but have been told now that my application to the 'adviser' role has not been successful (along with my colleagues) and we've all been made redundant.

It seems really strange. Our Chief Exec was sacked 4 weeks ago too under veery dubious circumstances and everything's just a mess.

I do want to keep my job given how hard it is to find a new one at the moment. But I don't especially want to work for a comany that treats their staff so badly!!

That'd be incredibly helpful if you can find out anything Lucy. For now I'll just try to stay positive and apply for whatever's out there :)
 
thanks for all your help. I've been in touch with ACAS as I've actually used them to run some courses for me in the past. Hoping to get a meeting on Monday with my local man and get things sorted asap. Don't want this to drag on any longer than necessary.

Thanks everyone! xx
 
It's a permanent contract. Consultant is just part of the job title. Cheers!
 
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