Unfair Redundancy/Dismissal....please help??

I have just been told my position is atrisk and sent home from a very well paid job. I have been therefor 18 months and will not recieve any redundancy payment.

Myissue is the way this redundancy has been carried out.......let me explain.

3 of us have carried out exactly the same job in Purchasing as "Senior Purchasing Specialists" for over 15 months. Each of us has carried out exactly the same day to day duties/roles/responsability etc.

I was called to my Managers office and handed my letter with very little explination. I asked if the other 2 people had also been put at risk. The answer I got was that one of my collegues had been told she was at risk but was being kept on for an undefined period because the business needed her SAP Computer System experiance. I was told the other collegue was not at risk as although he carried out exactly the same job as me he had apparently retained his job title from a previous role within the company (Which dissapeared as part of a reorganisation over 15months ago, resulting in him joining my team and assuming the same role as myself and the other Senior Purchasing Specilaist).

My question is is this allowed?? Although his job title may not have been changed he has "Assumed" the role of "Senior Purchasing Specialist" and has been sending out emails with the title of "Senior Purchasing Specialist" since he transffered into my team.

Have I got a good case for unfair dismissal in light of the above?? The"Role" of senior purchasing specialist is being made redundant although one personis being "Retained" for her Computer System skills and the other collegue is not at risk due to the job title.

Pleasecan someone help me as I am a family man with 4 young kids and not a lot of cash................................

Yes it sounds as though all three of you should be at risk, then selection criteria used to decide who goes and who stays.

If you have only been told you are at risk, not made redundant yet, then I assume you are in a consultation period. You should use this time to raise your concerns, and write asking for details of what selection criteria will be used to decide who is to be made redundant, when the consultation period will end and a decision be made and communicated, and why your colleague doing the same job is not also at risk.

If they confirm your redundancy, you can then appeal it.

Eleanor,

I asked them what selection criteria had been used to select me and they told me none as the role was being made redundant and so no selection criteria was required. It was then I asked if my two collegues carrying the same role out were also being put at risk. Their answer was that one collegue was put at risk but would be retained for an undefined period to assist in the companies stores area. I was told the other collegue had never had his job title changed from an earlier role in the company.

Surely this is not legal as they both carried out exactly the same role as me and have done so for well over 15 months.

Does the actual persons job title define their role from a legal perspective or do the actual roles and responsabilities carried out on a day to day basis define the role?

I have been Asked to go in and meet the management on Monday the 12th of June...... Supposedly to get any questions answered but I know how my company works..... They will expect me to role over and take their cheque which is for just one months salary.

Is this legal???

Thanks

Andy

If they have decided for business reasons that they now only need two Senior Purchasing Specialists rather than the current three, they need to explain what selection criteria they are using to decide which of the three people currently performing that role will be made redundant.

Your colleague's extra skills is a valid reason to keep her, however that should have been part of a selection criteria process. A different job title for someone doing the exact same job should not exempt your other colleague.

It doesn't sound as though they are using a fair process so you should appeal it. Whether it's worth bringing a case for unfair dismissal if your appeal fails depends. If you can demonstrate that if they'd used a fair process you wouldn't have been made redundant, then you have proved a financial loss. If you would have been made redundant anyway, you have not lost anything through their failure to follow a reasonable procedure, meaning a claim is probably fairly pointless.

If they had applied the same points system to the 3 of us the only thing they would score me down on would be for my time off sick due to my diabetes. As my diabetes is now controlled they can't score me down for this plus I have already discussed my sickness record with hr ensuring they were well aware that my diabetes is classed legally as a dissability. This us why I think they have chosen this route of frying rid of me thinking that I would not question the reason why I am the only person actuall leaving redundant out of the 3 of us.

So legally, even though my collegues job title had nit been changed to the same as myself and my other collegue, the fact that he had been doing exactly the same job as me for well over a year means they should be classing him as a senior purchasing specialist too?

I am still friendly with our old manager..... Would it be any use for him to write a letter confirming that my collegue joined his department as a senior purchasing specialist? He no longer works for the company but surely this would be good evidence to have to hand??

Thanks again .

Regards

Andy