What does protection mean?

Hi,

In the following situation what does protection mean? There are three members of staff currently employed. One is to be made redundant as they're on a temporary contract and it is expiring. A different role is to be created that the other two are to apply for. There will be three years protection for the unsuccessful candidate.
Does this mean that a job will be found for the unsuccessful candidate to do for three years? Does it mean that the salary will remain the same?

Thanks for any help.

It is common for salary to be protected if a new job would ordinarily be at a lower salary, and a time limit is usually set. So it could be that, yes. It's not particularly clear information though.

I would suggest you ask for further clarification, as if this is for the unsuccessful candidate that does imply that he/she wouldn't be made redundant but will be found something else. I would ask for a bit more information about what happens to the other candidate.

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

From what I can gather, both current roles are equal and two new roles are to be created, one similar to the current one and one lesser paid role. I guess that the unsuccessful candidate will get the lesser paid role.

If this is the case and they become protected for three years would it be likely that they would get their current salary for the next three years?

Yes, it sounds as though that's what is meant. The person getting the lower-paid role would have their current salary protected for three years. If there are pay rises in that time, the normal salary for the post will increase, and if the gap isn't too big, bring it more or less in line with the person's current salary.

Hi, thanks for that.

Sorry if I'm being stupid but just to clarify what you have said:

If the person who gets the lesser paid role is currently on £22k and the new role should pay £15k, when they start the new role they will still continue to get paid £22k for the duration of the protection?

That's quite a big difference, but yes, if it's salary protection they are talking about, that's usually what would happen. I would emphasise the need to get specific clarification on that though.

OK, thanks for being patient with me.

This also might sound a daft question but by doing this what does the employer actually gain? Presumably the new role will carry a similar pay grade to the old roles and the unsuccessful candidate will continue to get paid the same also (for the next three years), so where does the employer gain? The only money they will save is from the third person who was on a temporary contract.

If they didn't keep the salary protected, the unsuccessful candidate might not want the job. With a salary much lower, the person would be justified in saying the post is not suitable, and taking redundancy instead. Then the employer would have to pay redundancy/notice pay for that person, plus recruitment costs to get someone new for the lower post.

By keeping the person on and protecting their salary, the employer gets to keep someone experienced, save redundancy costs and save time, money and hassle of recruiting someone new.

Ah OK, that makes sense.

Would the employer be able to reduce the person who is protected's hours and pay them pro rata or does the protection generally mean they'd take home exactly the same money?

Well it's really up to them what they do. If the other job is a part time job, it wouldn't be usual to pay a full time salary for it, but if that's the case, the person would be justified in refusing the job and requesting redundancy instead. The key is whether the alternative job is a 'suitable' alternative. If someone refuses a 'suitable alternative', they forfeit their right to redundancy pay. If the alternative offered isn't suitable, then the person can refuse it and still be entitled to redundancy pay.

So this employer can offer the unsuccessful candidate any position really, but if the hours and therefore pay are lower, the person could refuse it.

Saying the salary is 'protected' does imply though that they do feel the alternative will be suitable, and that the other job is also full time.

It's really important to check all this though. You need to clarify with the employer that by 'protection' they do mean salary protection, and also request more details of the position the unsuccessful candidate will be offered.