Wonder if someone could help with employment/redundancy query

Hello,

I hope someone could give me some advice on my current situation. Really sorry for the long winded post but there is a lot to explain, and there may be more that I need to add!

In October 2010, I (along with 4 other staff from my office) was advised that my office would be closing and that I would be displaced to another office 50 miles away. According to our contracts, we were entitled to at least a months notice before any significant changes were made but we actually had no more than 3 weeks. The displaced staff agreed to a temporary addendum to their contract which was to run until the end of the financial year (end March 2011) when the situation would be reviewed.

I raised the breach in contract with the other staff and haven’t signed anything to say that I agreed to the addendum. (I do know that my continuing to work essentially means that I accepted the change but I felt that I had no option or time to consider it) However, I felt that the decision to move us was rushed through very quickly and I had seen no evidence that an alternative had been sought before making the decision.

The company agreed to pay our travelling expenses until the end of March 2011 when the situation would be reassessed.

In January 2011, I was asked if I wanted to take a 6 month secondment position at a Client’s office in the town where I live. I liked the idea, as it would be a good experience for me and I wouldn’t need to travel across the country to get there. It was understood that, while I was away, my admin tasks (my job title is Admin Assistant) would be distributed between the other staff members.

Nothing was discussed with the business unit head with regards to what would happen upon my return, although I did express my concern in my job being at stake if my tasks were delegated to other people. I wouldn’t have taken the position if there were any uncertainty but I was assured that I would still have a job to return to and so accepted the secondment, which started in February 2011. Unfortunately, these conversations were not confirmed in writing.

Despite being told on several occasions that there were no plans to make further redundancies in my unit, on 2nd March we were advised of the outcomes of a further phase of the Company’s ‘cost reduction programme’ and that people from my office would be affected. No-one in my office was told if that they were ‘at risk’ but on the 14th of March, one of the displaced staff was made redundant.

None of the remaining displaced staff heard anything further about the temporary addendum up until (and after repeated prompting) the 7th of April 2011 when we received another letter which said that the arrangements would be extended again until the end of July. There was no apology or even acknowledgement that the company were late in addressing the issue and our consent to continue the arrangement was presumed rather than sought. Since October, we have been travelling an extra 3 hours to and from work each day.

Further to this, I was advised last week (3 months into my secondment) that when my contract at the client office ends, the workload in my office would be assessed and a decision would be made as to whether or not there was a need for me to return. I was told that (due to my 6 months experience at the Clients office) I would come back with a ‘consultant’ job title and role rather than my contracted role of admin assistant. However, it wouldn’t be clear until the middle of June whether or not there would be the need for another consultant in the office.

I haven’t agreed to change my job role to consultant yet (I have no formal training in the work my company does) and I’ve already told my manager that I would come back as admin assistant if it means keeping my job. However, she said that because the other staff members have been handling my old tasks between them, there probably isn’t the need for an admin staff any more. (I don't know what my colleagues make of that)

So, at the moment, it seems pretty clear that my contracted role has been made redundant and that I will be asked to change my job role to one which might not even be needed in the office come July.

I am now expected to carry on as normal for the next two months when I have no idea what’s going to happen or what I should do. I have already told my personal supervisor that the past 7 months have taken its toll and he has actually advised me to look for other jobs.

I’m really not sure how I’m supposed to keep up the pretence to the client here that I am happy and enjoying the work I’m doing. I want to do a good job for her but I feel like while I’m here, I’m just lining the pockets of the company that put me here and will be out on my ear when the contract ends. I can’t see my office being suddenly inundated with work that they’ll need me to go back to. There’s not enough consultancy work to share around as it is.

Does anyone have any advice on what I could do? All of the uncertainty from October until now has really fried my brain.

Thanks

I don't have enough time to respond to this right now, but will do so later. In the meantime, could you please tell me if your role(s) in the team are different? Because it seems to imply here that you are the only admin worker? Is that correct?

Thanks for your quick reply.

Yes, I am the only admin support in the office.

Ok - sorry it took some time to get back on this one.

I am afraid that there really isn't much that you can do. Since you are the only admin worker in the team, and the role (not the work - that is irrelevant) is no longer needed, that is a redundancy. The redeployment of your team is something of a red herring in all this - you agreed to the terms of the redeployment and so you have all accepted it and the company are quite correct, in law, to presume your continuing agreement because there is nothing you can do to withdraw that agreement now. So you are stuck with where you are and what you have got.

You haven't been served with notice in terms of the redundancy because the employer has redeployed you to another role, which would appear to be suitable in terms of it being a broadly comparable role with at least the same terms and conditions. It is perfectly legitimate for them to do this, and so you are not entitled to demand redundancy. If you have concerns that you are not fully skilled or experienced for this role and need support / training, then you should certainly raise this (in writing) and explain your concerns, to ensure that they are on record. But if you refuse to return to this role, you will be resigning. So I think that your only option here is to go with the flow and accept the position and wait to see what happens next. Or, as your supervisior has said, find another job and resign. I don't see any other way out for you.

Thanks for your reply SarEl. I thought that would be the case. They have tried offered us more than other people might get, but being at the other side of the country from our head office does sometimes make us feel like we're forgotten about.

Anyway, while going through emails last night, I remembered that the company have given us a commuting trial period which would have ended in March but has been extended until July, when they will permenantly change our contracts to reflect our new place of work. They have said that if we don't feel like the commute would be suitable for us we can ask for redundancy.

At the moment, I am in a role where I am making money for the company and will be here until July. If I ask to be made redundant now, do they have to accept it?

Also, does asking to be made redundant differ from voluntary redundancy? Could the package that they offer be less?(Sorry if that is a silly question)

Ok, I've had another look at the letter and it doesn't say in so many words that we can ask for redundancy. However, the exact words are:

What are my displaced employee rights?? Would they be specific to the company?

Basically, the bottom line is that the commuting won't work for me. When our contracts change we will be expected to pay for our own travel (which works out at about £3000 a year) and will have 3 hours added onto my working day. I'm not prepared to move to another city as i'm under contract in a rented house.

If i'm not prepared to travel, redundancy or resignation can only be the only solution?

Sorry to ask so many questions. I have an appointment at the CAB next week but you have been really helpful and I can't not pick your brains some more!

Be wary of CAB - and ACAS. They both have a reputation which is not earned and their advisors are not trained in employment law. Fine for the simple stuff - sometimes - but not for more complex things.

This "displacement thing" doesn't exist in law. You are either redundant or not. So you need to check your company policies for guidance on this. On the face of it, I would say that there is no promise of anything but a quick chat in that. They will support having a chat about what they might be able to do - not what they will do. Based on what you have said (but I don't have all the details) I think there is an implied promise of redundancy - but it would be compulsory, so if your company has different scehemes for the two (they aren't always any different except you choosing to volunteer when they ask for redundancies).

So yes, I think that your only option is to give them notice that you cannot manage the commute and are not willing to continue - and see what they come back with.