Forced out of job due to dept relocation

RumbleBee

RumbleBee

RumbleBee

Associate
Joined
22 Dec 2002
Posts
1,190
Location
Teesside, UK
Unfortunetly my company has decided they are relocating the IT dept to another town 160+ miles away. There is an option to move with them and they offer to provide support for up to the value of £8,000 (requiring 2 years min employment)

Due to family it is not possible I can move this distance and nor do I feel like it's a worthy move for the level of job I currently work in. No promotion's available. Just the same job in another part of the country. definetly not worh causing upset for my mam or forcing changes on my wife and kids.

I was informed of the above 3 weeks ago and the closing of this site is due to go ahead with the relocation on the 11th December. I've had nothing in writing and it's assumed those who are not relocating (there are a few who are) are already in the process of finding a new job.

This seems very unprofessional. I've been made redundant before, but strangly on this occasion the words 'Redundancy' have not even been mentioned. It's more a case of come with us or your sacked.

To add insult they are saying they require 4 weeks of notice should I/we find another job and this is not flexible as we are required to train up those new starters from the new site (training at current location). The 4 weeks notice is in my contract, but I assumed things were different under these circumstantes.

Anyone been through something similiar. A colleague says this may fall under constructive dismisal, but I'm not convinces this is the case.

Edit.
I'd really like to know how the letter regarding my employment will be worded. Will hopefully find out soon. As far as I'm concerned I'm not been made redundant until someone tells me I am, but they are leaving it late.
 
Last edited:
Citizens advice bureau might be a nice place to start, sounds very strange that you've had NOTHING in writing, personally I'd get it down on paper from the company before even going to the C.A.B.
 
Normally it states the "Place of Work" in your contract. If they close the place down and haven't given you a notice of termination, they will have to pay you for another month at least, according to your contract!

I'd speak to them first and ask why you haven't received a letter of redundancy, which it is as they can no longer provide you the work at the conditions stated in your contract.

good luck with it!
 
You need to check your contract to see if the place of work is defined, and also if there is a mobility clause (a variation term allowing the employer to change your normal place of work).

If there isn't a variation term, then even if the place of work is not expressly defined it can be reasonably taken that your current location as your place of work is an implied term in your contract.

Either way your employer has to offer you an alternative job or redundancy. They can't just up sticks and leave you in the lurch, and they certainly can't dismiss you for not accepting a variation in your contract that you don't agree to - which in this case would be changing your normal place of work.

You can make a claim for a redundancy payment from your employer if you have worked for them for 2 years or more.

It is very difficult to give general guidelines about when a change in job location will result in a redundancy. It will depend on how reasonable it is for the client to travel to the new location and whether any mobility term is reasonably applied by the employer.

If they refuse to make you redundant then you can take them to an employment tribunal for "Constructive Unfair Dismissal":
To make a claim of constructive unfair dismissal a client must give up her/his job. This should therefore only be considered as a last resort.

To be eligible to claim constructive unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal, an employee must normally have worked for the employer for at least one year.

A client who wishes to claim constructive dismissal will have to show that the employer has breached such a fundamental term of the contract that the client is entitled to regard the contract as coming to an end. A change in job location could be such a fundamental change.

To make successful claim of constructive dismissal a client also has to show that s/he did not accept the breach of contract. The easiest way of demonstrating this is for the client to leave the job and to put in writing to the employer the reason that s/he is leaving. It is possible to stay working in the job 'under protest' and claim constructive dismissal, but the longer a client does this the greater the risk s/he runs of a tribunal deciding that s/he had accepted the change.

However, a constructive dismissal is not automatically an unfair dismissal and the dismissal would have to be shown to be unfair under the normal rules for unfair dismissal. It is therefore usually advisable for a client to claim redundancy as well as or instead of constructive unfair dismissal.
Click to expand...

I would have course recommend that you take professional advice on this subject - your local CAB would be able to help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom