Redundancy / We no longer need you
Discussion
Advice if you can please
A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
bazjude2998 said:
Advice if you can please
A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
In relation to the redundancy pay - that should be either statutory minimum or whatever is in her contract. Unfortunately the fact that her section was the most profitable is irrelevant.A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
This kind of situation is quite common for senior managers when mergers/ takeovers happen I’m afraid. The new owners will need to make savings, often by merging roles, eliminating duplication and making others redundant.
bazjude2998 said:
Advice if you can please
A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
What is her notice period ? Will she also get Payment in lieu of notice and redundancy. A friend has been pushed from her job.She worked for the company for the last 32 years,the family owned business sold out to a large American group last year,She was employed as a group manager her sections being the most profitable in the company.Salary £50k plus.
Knives have come out and the package offered is a miserly £15k,are your opinions the same as mine.All advice greatfully received
She should respond by requesting a full six months of pay and and bonus that could accrue as a full settlement, expecting the company to recognize her very substantial contribution to the business.
Additionally she should request a consultation with an employment lawyer at their expense.
US firms are not great at recognizing custom and practice in the uk and often follow minimums. They will have a pot of cash to tidy the business up and will only care about getting the ongoing running costs down, not the one off restructuring.
She needs to be firm ...
Challo said:
She needs to check what’s in her contract related to redundancy? She potentially could only get statutory payments
Very few employment contracts will specify terms. I have never seen one with. The incoming firm, will have a pot of money for this, they are lowballing, she needs to negotiate an exit, handover etc. in return for proper severance.
Who will stay in the freshly acquired business if they know that any redundancy will be at stat min? It is a future employee engagement issue.
Negotiate ... it’s the only way
Gargamel said:
What is her notice period ? Will she also get Payment in lieu of notice and redundancy.
She should respond by requesting a full six months of pay and and bonus that could accrue as a full settlement, expecting the company to recognize her very substantial contribution to the business.
Additionally she should request a consultation with an employment lawyer at their expense.
US firms are not great at recognizing custom and practice in the uk and often follow minimums. They will have a pot of cash to tidy the business up and will only care about getting the ongoing running costs down, not the one off restructuring.
She needs to be firm ...
I'd be massively surprised if multiple people are being made redundant and they're open to any kind of negotiation. She should respond by requesting a full six months of pay and and bonus that could accrue as a full settlement, expecting the company to recognize her very substantial contribution to the business.
Additionally she should request a consultation with an employment lawyer at their expense.
US firms are not great at recognizing custom and practice in the uk and often follow minimums. They will have a pot of cash to tidy the business up and will only care about getting the ongoing running costs down, not the one off restructuring.
She needs to be firm ...
My experience is that companies that offer more than statutory provide a take it or leave it offer, knowing they're paying more than they need to not wanting to set a precedent which they'd need to offer across the group.
If they're offering a settlement agreement, they will probably include fees to speak to a solicitor.
The plus side is that the 15k will be tax free.
Gargamel said:
She needs to be firm ...
..but about what? if you are being offered the statutory amount, what precisely are you going to stand firm about or negotiate about? It's not a nice position to find herself in, but what value is there to the company doing the taking over in offering more than they are legally obliged to. ... or should she just scream & scream until she's sick?
GT03ROB said:
..but about what? if you are being offered the statutory amount, what precisely are you going to stand firm about or negotiate about? It's not a nice position to find herself in, but what value is there to the company doing the taking over in offering more than they are legally obliged to.
... or should she just scream & scream until she's sick?
Yes ultimately there is little leverage available to an employee leaving. It depends, has she already actually left the business, and is now at home. Or is she still going in and helping with the transition. ... or should she just scream & scream until she's sick?
When I say be firm, I mean make your position 100% clear, that the package offered is not appropriate to someone with 32 years of service and with a track record of good performance. This is easier if they still need her experience even if only for a short while.
Even if she is at home, a counter proposal from the employment lawyer might be worth a try.
I have made several hundred people redundant, there are always a few exceptional cases where companies may be wise to look at the numbers again.
I suppose there's always the possibility the company hasn't followed the correct process, but how much would that gain in unfair dismissal compensation?
If there is any suggestion of riding roughshod over due process then the firm might be keen to pay more to make any potential issue go away.
If there is any suggestion of riding roughshod over due process then the firm might be keen to pay more to make any potential issue go away.
They should have a means of objecting for those affected.
I haven’t done the math, but I assume her payment is statutory (will a capped consideration of weekly pay for high earners).
If that’s the case, complaints pointing out process failures may be worthwhile.
We’d need to know how many people were affected on the site - the more there are, the more rigorous the process and likelihood of mistakes.
I haven’t done the math, but I assume her payment is statutory (will a capped consideration of weekly pay for high earners).
If that’s the case, complaints pointing out process failures may be worthwhile.
We’d need to know how many people were affected on the site - the more there are, the more rigorous the process and likelihood of mistakes.
Figures don't look right to me.
£1K pw, 32 years service. I've assumed 50 years old. Stat min redunancy comes to £12.5K. On top of that you have notice period of 12 weeks (at normal wage) (which they can make you work), thats another £12K. In addition they have you give you your benefits during your notice period and most firm make a cash payment for this.
£15K seems short
£1K pw, 32 years service. I've assumed 50 years old. Stat min redunancy comes to £12.5K. On top of that you have notice period of 12 weeks (at normal wage) (which they can make you work), thats another £12K. In addition they have you give you your benefits during your notice period and most firm make a cash payment for this.
£15K seems short
Agree with the sentiments that other have said, it seems the days of "decent redundancy packages" have gone, so negotiation is the only way!
As others have also said the buying company will have a budget for the transition so how much of it she gets is down to how well she negotiates.
She doesn't have much leverage but perhaps she should start with what she can offer them, if she ups and walks very little but if she offers to stay and help them break up or whatever they're doing with her old role smoothly then that's useful to them!
As others have also said the buying company will have a budget for the transition so how much of it she gets is down to how well she negotiates.
She doesn't have much leverage but perhaps she should start with what she can offer them, if she ups and walks very little but if she offers to stay and help them break up or whatever they're doing with her old role smoothly then that's useful to them!
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