Latest round of redundancies

Over a period of a few years and more than one TUPE transfer to new owners, the company is again making workers redundant. This time only statutory minimum payments being made.Previous situations: workers received a fair bit more. Additional payments not in contract, so can more be claimed this time round on its being custom and practice. What's the route and what's the likely of success

Hi Vanman

The starting point needs to be to look at any documentation relating to your firm's redundancy procedures. If there is anything which says they will pay enhanced redundancy pay, then clearly that is helpful to your cause. Check your contract of employment as well as any staff handbook or stand=alone procedures. The argument here would be that you had an explicit contractual entitlement to enhanced redundancy pay.

In the absence of any written evidence, the argument that you are entitled to a higher level of redundancy pay through custom and practice has to be on the basis that this higher level has been applied consistently for a number of years, that its application is well-known throughout the organisation, and that there has been some sort of consistent level of enhancement applied. If this has been quite arbitrary up to now - for instance, on one occasion everyone was given 2 weeks per year of service, another time it was 1.5 weeks, and then another time everyone was given a £1,000 top up - then you are unlikely to win a custom and practice argument.

I hope that is some help.

Pete