Being made redundant any advice?

[cHk4]

Ok going to try and keep this short.

About 2 months ago our branch in Camberley was merged with a branch in Reading. This required a lot extra travel but we had no choice.

We then yesterday got called in to the office, I was the 2nd person called up and I went home straight after being told there are people being made redundant on Monday, we were told we could go home yesterday so I did.

Today I get my letter

"
The team currently has 3 Recruitment Consultants, 3 Recruitment Administrators, 1 temporary Administrator and 1 Nurse Recruiter. The Company considers the current volume of business can be handled by the following structure:

· 3 Recruitment Consultants
· 2 Recruitment Administrators
· 1 Nurse Recruiter

As a result of this proposal 1 Recruitment Administrator is potentially redundant. The temporary Administrator currently within team has a contract that expires at the end of June and this role will come to an end at this stage."
Now the thing is I was a Recruitment Admin up until 4,5 months ago. Which some one quit and due to the needs of the business I took over there role.
I was told this would all be changed (job role etc.) Then when we moved branch the area manager asked what I would like to move over as. I stated my current job was Recruitment Consultant and wish to continue. He said this was fine.

Now in the letter its still classing me as a Recruitment Admin. Which they are looking to get rid of. ( I have sensed they have been trying to get rid of me for some time now, well since I moved to the new branch.) I know the other two they will not get rid off. They will bring my sickness up as I have had about 2 weeks in 2 months up. But I took them as holiday days after, so they cant really use that on me.

Any way my main bit of advice needed is about my job title.
Thanks.

[buzlightyear]

I guess it will down to the contract you have signed, what is your job description on that contract?

To be honest, if you have no money worries, IE Loans Mortgage etc. Then being made redundant is a blessing in disguise, find yourself a job that does want you and you are happy in, and the money from the redundency goes on AV gear

[cHk4]

Originally Posted by buzlightyear

I guess it will down to the contract you have signed, what is your job description on that contract?

To be honest, if you have no money worries, IE Loans Mortgage etc. Then being made redundant is a blessing in disguise, find yourself a job that does want you and you are happy in, and the money from the redundency goes on AV gear

Heh just took out a £7500 loan lol , I have about £600 of commitments a month so its a bit ouchy! Although I just read a months garden leave if I get made redundant so bit less worry.

Thanks though for your advice :D I just checked my score 290/500 points I got. Thats not good :P I know now for a fact every one has a higher score than me from the criteria

And unfortunatly the contract I have signed is that of a recruitment admin

[Decadence]

I would imagine they'll have done their homework. I would start looking for any agency work you can get your hands on to keep money coming in while you look for something more permanent.

[Mr Incredible]

Much depends on whether you really want to fight to keep a job or not. Statutory redundancy pay is not a lot of money (£310 for each year of employment), so you may not end up with too much any way.

If until 4 or 5 months ago you were an Admin person, would you say that in terms of Admin experience you have more than the current Admin people? Would you say your performance in the past has been better than those other Admin people?

In a situation where a company has to make a choice at redundancy time, often the simplest method is last in first out. It's easy to implement and transparent and not subject to interpretation. But this often means an employer can lose out and so it is common that an employer will use a scoring system to determine who goes and who stays.

You have a legal right to have access to and see the selection and scoring criteria and the actual scoring that was applied to you. You may also ask what the highest and lowest scores were for your "pool", but I don't think the employer is under any obligation to provide that level of detail given that there are only three people in your pool.

Asking to be treated as a consultant may actually play against you as there would then have to be one redundancy in the consultants team and you have only 4-5 months direct consultants experience, if I've read you right.

[cHk4]

Thanks a lot Malice, I see your point about the less experience. I have seen the scoring and what I got and well, its not impressive. So I defiantly will be the one going! Its down to our manager, she hates me and loves the other two, I could argue the toss about it I think and keep my job, as its basically constructive dismissal. But I think do I really want to stay here, so as some one said maybe a blessing in disguise. Thanks also Decadence

[johntheexpat]

The sad fact is that the redundancies are going to happen and you are going to get the chop. It's a small operation and as you yourself have noted, your name is on the list to go. While fighting it may make you feel better, in the long run it will hurt you rather than the company. If you make a real fuss, you will still lose the fight, feel bad about it, p*ss-off the people who have to eventually supply your reference and it will bug you for a long time. My advice is to box clever. Have an informal chat with someone important (the higher up the management the better) and get a better deal. eg No fuss = 6 weeks gardening leave rather than 1 Month or whatever you think you can get. Every concession you get, every extra bit you squeeze out of them is a victory for you and will make you feel better. And remember, everyone who is left at the office is going to be wary for their job and also run off their feet doing two jobs instead of one. This may feel like you have lost, but it is up to you to turn it into a winning situation.
Good luck and fight hard!

[unique]

Originally Posted by cHk4

Thanks a lot Malice, I see your point about the less experience. I have seen the scoring and what I got and well, its not impressive. So I defiantly will be the one going! Its down to our manager, she hates me and loves the other two, I could argue the toss about it I think and keep my job, as its basically constructive dismissal. But I think do I really want to stay here, so as some one said maybe a blessing in disguise. Thanks also Decadence

it sounds like they have a "points" system in place for decieding who is to be made redundant. normally you shouldn't be bringing absence records into this, it should be skills based. if you have the least skills and experience it would be expected to make you redundant i'm afraid

i'd start getting onto the job agencies, get the cv together etc, before leaving it too late. i suggest getting in touch with 5-10 agencies, don't leave it to 1 or 2 agencies

if the relationship between yourself and your manager isn't great, then it sounds like a good time to leave

how long have you been employed, and what is your companies redundancy package like? is it more than statutory? you should perhaps HR to confirm this to you so you know what to expect

[cHk4]

Thanks John that’s some cracking words of advice. And to be honest you are right, will try and squeeze a little extra out of them :P

Thanks also unique, I am going to see if I can take tomo off as holiday and get to town and register with some agencies. With the current company I am just a week or being here for a year! So all it would be is notice period paid which would be 1 months salary. - I have some information from HR and defiantly 1 months salary.

Thanks for all your advice in this situation it is greatly appreciated

[Mr Incredible]

Any reasonable company will allow time off for job interviews etc and some even offer career counselling. I'd hold onto your holidays if I were you and get them paid out at the end of your notice period.

[Setenza]

1.) Just start using all your available time and effort into finding new work. Re-write your CV so it's up to date. Register yourself with all the right organisations.

2.) If you still have access to the office whilst awaiting your last day, use as many of their resources to your advantage.

3.) When you clear your desk, don't forget to stock up on stationery. You don't realise how much it costs until you have to start buying it yourself.

4.) See if you can negotiate a better exit package for yourself. But don't burn your bridges. Keep things civil and professional. Get references sort out now. Get them to write something good on headed paper, rather than wait until your next job is pending.

5.) Don't go for a drink on your last day, get plastered and make a tit of yourself.

Good luck mate. Being made redundant is tough but its far better than being sacked.

[unique]

Originally Posted by cHk4

Thanks John that’s some cracking words of advice. And to be honest you are right, will try and squeeze a little extra out of them :P

Thanks also unique, I am going to see if I can take tomo off as holiday and get to town and register with some agencies. With the current company I am just a week or being here for a year! So all it would be is notice period paid which would be 1 months salary. - I have some information from HR and defiantly 1 months salary.

Thanks for all your advice in this situation it is greatly appreciated

malice is right, if you are being made redundant you have the right to a reasonable amount of paid time off for job seeking, so keep your holidays and see the agencies during your redundancy notice period, that is if they make you redundant. for now you can get your cv ready and send it to agencies and explain you would like to make an appointment if/when you are given notice, so you don't loose out your holidays. your notice period is included to take your overall continuous employment to your year of service as your HR dept have confirmed, so it sounds like they are decent enough. a months redundancy is 4 times the statutory, so it's not bad considering you've not been there a year, and you have the years service which is about the minimum short time many people would think as acceptable between chancing jobs (ie. lots of short periods of employment doesn't look too attractive to potential employers, it's common for people to say they were on a temp contract if they were fired or left cuz they didn't like the job, many employers don't bother to check references)

so if you have been there a week less than a year, they would have to give you notice depending on what your contract says, which would be a week minimum, that would give you a years full service, thus you are due the redundancy payment for a years service. if they don't want you to work your notice they have to pay that too. so if your notice period is a month, they have to give a months notice, pushing you to be entitled to redundancy pay, they can make you work your notice, and if you are asked to work it and don't attend you aren't necesarily entitled to payment, although you can "be sick", but i wouldn't expect as good a reference if you muck them about at the end, no matter how good an employee you were or how bad they treated you

[alnwrd]

To see all your rights to fair dismissal and redundacy etc go to the ACAS website
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=16

[Ian J]

Anyone in the recruitment industry who is thinking of going it alone but wondering about how to finance the project need look no further as one of the UK's few specialist factoring brokers is a member of this forum

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[unique]

one thing that sprung to mind when you said you've been there a week short of a year - have they specifically and formally told ou that you personally are being made redundant? if not, then if the statutory/contractual notice period takes you over your years service then you will be entitled to some redundancy pay by statutory law. thus if they have to give you a weeks notice, and next wednesday is the year anniversary, your notice will take you over the years service. if it's a months notice then it takes you well over.

it might be worth clarifying that with HR. even if they pay you in liue of notice and tell you to go home today, just a few days short of your year, the notice period can still carry your service to a year. they are just paying you not to turn up if they pay in liue of notice. you are then entitled to get another job or do what you want.

gardening leave is usually when you are paid for an extended period, such as a manager with six months notice period and they don't want them in, and they don't want them working for anyone else for a while (for various reasons), so they are paid on the agreement they won't work. usually those on gardening leave are giving decent severance packages, it's not normally acceptable to put someone on gardening leave if they are on low/normal wages doing fairly normal jobs, as that can be seen as a restriction of trade. they would need a very good reason to justify that if you raised a tribunal complaint about unfair redundancy