Very unpleasant morning...

BrittW

Timelord
I work in an office of about 40 people and first thing this morning, out of the blue, 12 of them were made redundant.
Very sad and hard to watch. :(

I've been told my job is safe but now after this, I wonder how long for. Hubby to be was made redundant 2 months ago and still hasn't found a job so in layman's terms, I'm shitting a brick with worry.
 
my hubby was also made redundant in October and is struggling to find work, he's never been out of work before and is struggling with it.

Luckily my job seems secure at the minute, but i'm only working 16 hours a week.
 
How awful for those people who face the New Year without a job. Why do companies do that straight after the festive season? Not that any other time is good when it comes to losing your livelihood but for goodness sake give people a chance to take down the Christmas decorations first!! My heart goes out to those that had the bad news and I hope they can find the means to sustain themselves and their families very soon in these hard times. :sigh:
 
That's awful!

I remember when I was made redundant in 1991. I'd had a few months notice so was prepared but the people who had beenmade redundant in the first round had no warning at all.

I hope anyone job searching/under threat etc have a better 2012 than they're expecting xx
 
My hubby is being made redundant on 1st April, we have known since last year but that dosnt help much, he is 56 so not sure if he will be able to find employment again. We are fortunate that he has worked there a while and the payout is good so have 6 months back up. Just hoping things will work out!
 
They cant just make them redundant out of the blue, they must have been given notice that there was a possible redundancy situation? If not tell them to get legal advice as that is unfair dismissal x
 
They cant just make them redundant out of the blue, they must have been given notice that there was a possible redundancy situation? If not tell them to get legal advice as that is unfair dismissal x

They have given them a months notice but have been told they don't have to work it. Also given a months pay...
It's a horrid situation, I've been in it before. :(
 
so no consultation, no meetings to discuss scores or anything. Have they all been there longer than 2 years? If so tell them to take advice quickly, ACAS are a good start
 
snuggle69 said:
so no consultation, no meetings to discuss scores or anything. Have they all been there longer than 2 years? If so tell them to take advice quickly, ACAS are a good start

This is good advice, there should be a consultation period, I think it's 3 months, and of that does not happen you should be paid that in lieu of notice. That has nothing to so with redundancy payments your entitled to of you have worked for over two years.
 
The consultation period varies on the predicted number of redundancies, payment in lieu of notice doesnt come into it, there has to be a fair procedure and as it sounds as though all of these people were in the same pool they should have their scores discussed with them, as they may be able to give valid reason as to why they should score higher, which would possibly end up taking them out of the situation. Over the last 4 years in the construction industry I have learnt the hard way on the rights and wrongs of redundancy!!
 
Unfortunately I don't think any of them have been here over two years...
 
Depending on contract and what company you are involved in.

Just think of the damage you could do if you are working with computers and they hold a lot of confidential information.Companies have the right to make you redundant and tell you to leave straight away with pay.

I agree it can be with immediate effect, but there has to be consultation prior to it happening, I was only trying to help the people that Brittany works with. No consultation means unfair dismissal.
 
Yuk. I remember that happening to me and several of my colleagues back in 1989. It was such a shock. I just remember the sick look on everyones faces (the ones that were staying and those leaving) and the thick silence that filled the office. Horrible.

I suppose the owners of the company will just have to wait and see of the cutback in spending is enough to keep them going. Might be worth keeping your eye out for alternatives that you might prefer, but at the moment it's a bit frying pan and fire in most industries.

Hope everything stays okay for you and that your old work-pals find something else soon.

x
 
If they havent been there two years then they are easy pickings unfortunatly but still worth a call to ACAS
 
snuggle69 said:
so no consultation, no meetings to discuss scores or anything. Have they all been there longer than 2 years? If so tell them to take advice quickly, ACAS are a good start

I believe The consultation periods only applies to big companies, or if you are making more than 10% of your total staff in a geographical region redundant. Its still horrible either way though for everyone involved. Even if you aren't one of the unlucky ones who is made redundant, you don't feel that safe.

OP, I would give yourself a couple of weeks to see how you feel about it all before making any drastic decisions. It's so easy to feel insecure & also angry when something like this happens.
 
I know the law can and does change but as far as I know if you are making less than 100 people redundent you don't have to go through the consultation period.
 
It's a horrid situation to be in. Even coming in this morning there is a really weird atmosphere. I don't like it. I don't feel safe after yesterday, that's for sure.
 
I know the law can and does change but as far as I know if you are making less than 100 people redundent you don't have to go through the consultation period.

This is very wrong lol, we had 84 employees made 19 redundant and although we did the scoring we didnt have meetings with people, its just cost us 11.5k in an employment tribunal!!!
 
From a fully qualified HR professional (although i am very rusty....) you should have a meeting with anyone under threat of redundancy.

They can do 1-2-1 meetings for redundancy numbers of under 20 people - anymore than 20 and it has to be collective. Sometimes employers do 'waves' of redundancies, to try to avoid a collective consultation as these often get heated and are upsetting for all involved.

If no meeting or consultancy happens the employees can claim unfair dismissal, as they have not had a chance to 'fight their case' so to speak. There was have been another job they could do - redeployment or they may have been incorrectly/unfairly scored in the redundancy criteria.
 
Back
Top