Consultation Meeting - Redundancies

MisChief

MisChief

MisChief

Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
9,173
My mum is being made redundant at her workplace and she wants me to accompany her to a consultation meeting tomorrow.

I've looked up how to calculate the statutory redundancy entitlement, just so we know how much to expect and that her employer doesn't try and get away with paying less. But I was just wondering what kind of questions I should be asking? (I will be the one doing the asking as my mums English isn't good so I'm there to translate :o) Would you just accept whatever they offer or can you challenge something which you think is not right?
 
it may be worth checking her contract, my old man managed to get out with a rather sweet deal as had quite a good employment contract.
 
unless you work there you cant accompany her, as the statutory right to be accompanied is either a union rep or colleague!
 
You are there as a witness and to take notes, you arent there to say anything and unless you work there then I cant see them alowing you to be there.
 
Deluxe1 said:
Has she been fulltime and how long has she worked there?
Click to expand...
She has been working there full time for 8 years.

MrMoonX said:
unless you work there you cant accompany her, as the statutory right to be accompanied is either a union rep or colleague!
Click to expand...
I used to work there, can an ex-colleague attend? :D
I guess I'll just show up anyway and if they say no then I'll just sit outside and wait...
 
You should ask how the process is happening
are they taking voluntary (only really applies if its a reduction in workforce)
exactly whats the process, timescales etc
Ask when can your mother start taking time out to speak to agencies

If its a reduction in workforce how is the selection being made, probably they will be scored based on the companys key points for the job (will be fiddled though to get wh that want, thats how its played i am afraid)

Stat redundancy or enhanced

Any options for redeployment / retraining

The big thing to do is ask for copies of everything asap, keep it all, make notes of everything at the time. The people who win out of redundancy are those who prove the employer failed in the process, its almost impossible to fight being made redundant but you can win compensation if they fail to follow process.
 
The consultation isn't about how much money she will get, its about why she has been made redundant (usually based on a scorecard or something) and if there is anything else that can be done instead of redundancy i.e. are there any other jobs she could move into. If they have any vacancies in other areas of the business they should be looking if she could be suitable for any of them.

She should check her contract if she has one as their may be specific provisions in it regarding redundancy.

Does she know why she is being made redundant?
 
Watch out for evidence of discrimination direct or implied. Its also the most likely to get you some extra compensation if you threaten them at end of process if it appears they have not dealt with her fairly.

At last company every case the company lost was in fact settled by compromise as soon as a solicitor became involved, and this was always due to someone failing on process. I saw at least one case get pushed as ageism that wasnt but the company had made mistakes in the process that they knew would put them on the back foot at tribunal and folded to a nice large payout.
 
daver said:
The consultation isn't about how much money she will get, its about why she has been made redundant (usually based on a scorecard or something) and if there is anything else that can be done instead of redundancy i.e. are there any other jobs she could move into. If they have any vacancies in other areas of the business they should be looking if she could be suitable for any of them.

She should check her contract if she has one as their may be specific provisions in it regarding redundancy.

Does she know why she is being made redundant?
Click to expand...
She's being made redundant because the site she is working at is closing down. She was given a list of vacancies should she want to keep working, but she has chosen redundancy because she was thinking of retiring anyway.

Went for the consultation meeting today, all explained clearly and my mum was happy with the notice period and pay.
Thanks everyone for the advice :)
 
At least something has come good from this redundancy...the question about her retirement has been answered & she walks away with a redundancy package :)
 
If anyone else is going through this, there's a calc at http://www.direct.gov.uk/redundancy.dsb

You should push for your notice period, usually a month (taxable) and any unpaid holiday as part of the package.

Was made redundant last year and negotiated the above, plus a bunch of servers/hardware that was due to be liquidated - getting them for the asset price on the books, so about £5k flipped on ebay.
 
Remember that there is a "cap" on the weekly pay you can claim for with redundency.
So no matter how much you are taking home per week - you will only get redundency on a maximum of £400 per week.
 
stoofa said:
Remember that there is a "cap" on the weekly pay you can claim for with redundency.
So no matter how much you are taking home per week - you will only get redundency on a maximum of £400 per week.
Click to expand...
That doesn't apply to my mum - she's earning minimum wage anyway :p

She is 64 and has worked at the company for 8 years, meaning she gets 1.5 weeks pay x 8 (tax free) and then 8 weeks paid notice (taxable) + 3 days holiday pay which she is owed :)
 
stoofa said:
Remember that there is a "cap" on the weekly pay you can claim for with redundency.
So no matter how much you are taking home per week - you will only get redundency on a maximum of £400 per week.
Click to expand...

Not really, that only applies for statutory redundancy. Your redundancy payment can be as much as your employer wants...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom