Help Needed

Please can somebody advise me of the legalities of the following situation.

Myself and a collegue at works positions have both been made redundant, and one new role has been created out of our 2 jobs, and 3 other agency workers roles. The role of an administrator has been made into an exec role covering 5 different peoples jobs.

We have been told that if we do not apply for the job we will have to forefit our redundancy and hand our notice in. Please can you tell me if this is legal.

I disputed that we were not handing our redundancy in because the new role was completely different, but we have been told that is irrelevant as they feel we are competent for the job, even though neither of us want it.

The last time they had redundancys a few years back, this was not the case, you could take the redundancy, or go for the role, you had the choice. It seems like they are making the rules as they go along.

Please can someone tell me if what they are doing is right? Why would they make someone take a job they cleary dont want and dont feel they are capable of doing?

I would also like to point out that they couldnt even confirm if we would get a pay rise for doing 5 peoples jobs instead of one, and going from and admin role to an exec role.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

an expert will be along shortly to offer help. In the meantime, if you can think of anything else that may be relevant, it's best to post in advance. e.g. The time you've served in your role / for the company.

Thank you for your question although I am sorry to hear of the predicament that you are in at work.

As far as I can gather from your post, your employer has notified you that you and your colleague’s role at work is to be made redundant. The role that you were employed to do is no longer required and a new role (which encompasses areas of your role) has been created.

In this situation, to ensure that the redundancy is carried out fairly, your employer should consult with you individually and discuss any alternatives to the redundancy including alternative employment with your employer. There are also statutory minimum procedures which should be followed if you are dismissed for reason of redundancy. Should your employer fail to follow the DDP and proceed to dismiss you, the dismissal may amount to unfair dismissal

• An employer must set out in writing the reasons for the dismissal e.g. redundancy
• You must be invited to attend a meeting.
• After the meeting, the employer must inform you of the decision.
• You can appeal the decision.

If the role of Administrator has been created to replace the 5 jobs which are no longer require and is similar to your role, it could be that there is only the need to reduce the headcount by 1 full time employee. If this is the case, your employer should define objective selection criteria which can be applied to you and your colleague.

Otherwise, you are in a pool of redundant employees at risk of redundancy and the role of Administrator is the only suitable alternative employment (you should be aware of pay, hours, location, duty etc beforehand) which you have to apply for. If however after application you are not successful, or you deem the role to be an unsuitable alternative, your employer would be required to make you redundant with redundancy pay if you are eligible (you're an employee who has worked continuously for your employer for at least two years.)

If you employer was attempting to vary your terms and conditions of employment (change your duties, hours etc) and you disagreed or didn’t accept the new contract, the employer could terminate your contract and offer you a new one including the revised terms - effectively sacking you and taking you back on. However, from your post, it looks like this is not the case because one role is redundant. Perhaps they think this is what they are doing?

Let me know any progress with your case or please visit the forum again if you need any more help.