What can I do if I feel I'm not being treated with respect?

I'm currently in the consultation phase of being made redundant. My employer is outsourcing much of the work my department does to an Indian firm.

As part of the consultation we have elected employee representatives who meet with a senior management team and then feed communications to us (there is no union where I work). Yesterday we had one of our collective meetings with our rep who, along with other employee reps for other groups, had met with the senior management team the previous day and had communications to feed down to us.

The main issue to be communicated during the meeting was how our redundancy payment will be calculated (our employers want us to sign a compromise agreement and therefore are offering an enhanced redundancy package). Our rep was unable to give us a paper copy of the calculation (not sure why) but was able to communicate the calculation verbally from what he described as a "formal document".

On completion of the meeting it became apparent, after discussing with colleagues from other groups who had had their meetings with their employee reps on the same morning, that the calculation for redundancy payment that had been communicated to us was very different to the calculation for redundancy payment communicated to the other groups (although there are several groups for consultation purposes we all work for the same department so the actual calculation will be the same for all). There were 3 differences between what we were told and what the other group were told. The differences for some cases will make a difference in redundancy payment of over £10,000. Obviously this led to some confusion and uncertainty.

Our rep went on holiday immediately following our meeting and so was not available for clarification. We escalated the issue to senior management but have not received any direct communication from them in way of clarification. We were sent an e-mail from one of the other employee reps saying that the information given to us by our employee rep was incorrect but of course we have no way of knowing whether we should accept what they are saying over what we were told by our own rep.

Over the coming weeks we will all have an individual consultation at which time we will be provided with our personalised redundancy package so you might say well what’s the problem – you’ll find out soon enough what your package is anyway. However it’s not so much the confusion that is bothering us it’s the fact that we’ve been treated so haphazardly and seemingly without due care – particularly when you think of the impact this particular communication will have on people’s future hopes and plans. We’re not sure exactly how the miscommunication has occurred but we do know our rep was stating facts from an “official document” and that that document was given to him by the senior management team. For some reason our rep’s version of the comms was different from the other rep’s version of the comms. The rumour is that the contents of the comms was changed overnight by the senior management team between it being handed to our rep and him feeding it to us. For whatever reason he didn’t receive the updated version and so we were fed a different story to other groups.

I personally feel that we have been treated disrespectfully. I for one have worked for my employer for well over 10 years and feel I should be treated with more respect. It seems the senior management team didn’t take the correct level of care over this very important communication and as a result different groups were given different stories and to me that is disrespectful to the people being communicated to especially when you consider the contents and importance of the communication. They then missed an opportunity to put this right by not responding to our calls for clarification (we have had no formal communication from senior management to say that an error has been made and to clarify what the correct redundancy payment calculation should be) is also disrespectful in my view.

My question is – is there anything we can do about this? Surely my employer can’t get away with treating people like this?

But how are they treating you with disrespect (not that there's a law against that anyway)? All you have offered is speculation and guesswork. You think they didn't tell the rep the correct information, you think they changed the documents overnight, and another rep has told you that your rep has given you the wrong information.... They have a process for communication and consultation, and they have used that process unerringly - it would appear you are saying. But what is to say that your rep didn't make a mistake - or that the other rep didn't? It's the reps job to be accurate and explain what is happening, and they are your reps and not the employers. I appreciate that it may not be helpful that the rep has gone on holiday and cannot clarify this - but I can't see (other than wild rumour) how the employer has done anything wrong.

I appreciate that this is a very stressful and distressing time for you all as employees - but I can't see that the employer is "trying to get away with treating people like this" because they aren't doing anything wrong here. In the absence of your rep, can you not discuss this with the other employee rep and ask them to clarify what is happening? If necessary they can confirm with management that the document they are using is the correct one. This is what reps - whether trades union or not - are for. It's their job to deal with queries and questions, and I would think that management would be very wary of undermining the process set up by starting to engage directly with people who were not elected representatives.