Advance warning of redundancy

[cheerfulcharlie]

So, without going into too much detail I found out by mistake that a meeting that has been arranged for next week was actually to tell me I was about to be made redundant. My role has been 'at risk' since the begining of the year and the Company have been going through a process to put people into other roles - 1 above my level & 1 below. It now transpires that I am not suitable for even the 1 below. I have apparantly been assessed against some 'competancy matrix' which I have not seen yet. There have been no interviews carried out for the roles.

Now the reason the meeting is next week is that I am in the last knockings of a 16 month project which concludes this weekend which will net the company over £1(m) in revenue.

So, for all those who have been made redundant recently, if you'd have had a weeks notice what you would you have done differently - if anything ?

[davepoth]

Copy all of your work emails and anything else useful onto a flash drive, and take home. for a contract that large it may be worth a competitor giving you a job.

[KenBlocksPants]

cheerfulcharlie said:

So, without going into too much detail I found out by mistake that a meeting that has been arranged for next week was actually to tell me I was about to be made redundant. My role has been 'at risk' since the begining of the year and the Company have been going through a process to put people into other roles - 1 above my level & 1 below. It now transpires that I am not suitable for even the 1 below. I have apparantly been assessed against some 'competancy matrix' which I have not seen yet. There have been no interviews carried out for the roles.

Now the reason the meeting is next week is that I am in the last knockings of a 16 month project which concludes this weekend which will net the company over £1(m) in revenue.

So, for all those who have been made redundant recently, if you'd have had a weeks notice what you would you have done differently - if anything ?

Personally I would have been actively pursuing other work since the start of the year when you were put at risk.

You were lucky you've been given so much notice really (from being at risk).

Sorry it doesnt help much, and good luck with finding something else.

BTW, do some reading on the formal process, should they step out of line at all (including telling you by accident) you will have the formings of a case for unfair dismissal.

[TurricanII]

Beware - there is a fine line between ensuring you have a copy of your legitimate business contacts and stealing the company data by downloading emails. You would need to check your contract. And start applying elsewhere.

[davepoth]

TurricanII said:

Beware - there is a fine line between ensuring you have a copy of your legitimate business contacts and stealing the company data by downloading emails. You would need to check your contract. And start applying elsewhere.

Only if you get caught...;)

[TurricanII]

Not wanting to derail the thread, but I am firmly in the 'pheonixing should be illegal' camp. Or there should be a statutory year long ban on directors and their spouses who fold with over e.g. £50,000 of unpaid debts. The kind of person that s***s on their suppliers and doesn't pay staff is not one I would want to stick around and work for.

[fergywales]

TurricanII said:

Not wanting to derail the thread, but I am firmly in the 'pheonixing should be illegal' camp. Or there should be a statutory year long ban on directors and their spouses who fold with over e.g. £50,000 of unpaid debts. The kind of person that s***s on their suppliers and doesn't pay staff is not one I would want to stick around and work for.

What about the impact to unemployment though?

I am not a supporter of phoenix-style recovery practices, however, it exists as a strategy to allow an overly burdened business to shed some liabilities without going through full liquidation, and generally saves a fair amount of employees from the dole queue.

The Insolvency Service still play their part though, and if wrongdoings occur, repercussions for directors can be pretty hard and fast.

[zollburgers]

A £1m project that you had heavy involevemt in that was brought to a successful conclusion would look a lot better on your CV than one that was almost completed but was then ballsed up at the last minute.

Tempting, but I would keep it professional. Stealing all their st is risky but ensuring you have enough stuff to build a nice portfolio for a new job is to be expected.

[TurricanII]

fergywales said:

What about the impact to unemployment though?

I mainly deal with smaller business and often small suppliers. If we supplied equipment and services costing us £50k and our customer went bust without paying we would likely have to cut staff. Even if we got 6p in the pound back five years later! It is very easy (from what I have seen happen) to tell the liquidator that you tried to work your way out of a bad patch (to get out of a 'trading while insolvent' claim). Plus the pheonixed company can compete against it's rivals after ditching their liabilities - which is unfair and could contribute to the demise of rival businesses. The failed business should IMO be offered for sale to the highest bidder excluding the original directors and their family.

[fergywales]

TurricanII said:

fergywales said:

What about the impact to unemployment though?

I mainly deal with smaller business and often small suppliers. If we supplied equipment and services costing us £50k and our customer went bust without paying we would likely have to cut staff. Even if we got 6p in the pound back five years later! It is very easy (from what I have seen happen) to tell the liquidator that you tried to work your way out of a bad patch (to get out of a 'trading while insolvent' claim). Plus the pheonixed company can compete against it's rivals after ditching their liabilities - which is unfair and could contribute to the demise of rival businesses. The failed business should IMO be offered for sale to the highest bidder excluding the original directors and their family.

Not to derail this thread any further, however, if you are extending £50k credit to a 'small' business, without a guarantee from a director, that is poor business practice IMHO. Not saying that it would not have an effect on business (potentially scare away some smaller businesses) but, do you really want to do business with a small company with a director that will not guarantee payment via the business or personally? Old adage of when is debt good debt or bad debt; when it is paid it was good debt, when it goes unpaid, it is bad debt.