Redundancy: make sure you are clued up on your employee rights

7:50am Thursday 4th December 2008

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By David Green

MTA Solicitors

WITHOUT wanting to add to the consistent wave of negative news surrounding the credit crunch and impending recession, it’s practical and reasonable for all employees of businesses across all industries in the country to be prepared for how an economic downturn could impact them - whether it is a reduction in benefits, straightforward pay cuts or even, at worst case, redundancy.

“It won’t happen to me,” is a common reaction and it might not. But, if it does, you’ll want to ensure that you have equipped yourself with as much knowledge and information as possible to ensure that you are treated fairly and reasonably and that you get what you are entitled to.

Make no mistake, businesses can and will suffer under poor market conditions and sometimes the only feasible option for their survival is to make jobs redundant.

It is difficult for most people not to take it personally as it unavoidably becomes an emotional and distressing experience but such measures should always stem from a legitimate business decision.

Providing the correct procedures are followed, however unpleasant or distressing it is, you can have peace of mind that you weren’t unfairly dismissed. Here are some things to consider if you find yourself in this unfortunate position.

• You should have known your job was at risk: If you have just been called into a meeting with your manager and told that you have been made redundant, this should not be the first conversation you have ever had about it.

You should already have been called to a separate meeting, where your employer should have warned you that your job was at risk. If this hasn’t happened, then it is likely that your employer has not followed the correct procedures and you have the right to appeal against your dismissal and/or decide to take further action at an Employment Tribunal.

Your employer should also be consulting with all staff that are likely to be affected by the proposed redundancies in order to discuss options that may be available to them to avoid job losses.

• Why did they decide to select you?: If you are one of the employees selected for redundancy, did your employer take you through the selection criteria they used for making the decision to let you go? Your employer needs to be able to prove that your role has been made redundant and if it is a matter of reducing head count, they need to confirm to the reasons why you were selected over others in the pool of employees at risk.

• Get what you are entitled to: Make sure you have been paid everything you are entitled to. All employees are entitled to be paid all wages owed to them, any holiday that you have accrued but not taken and the appropriate notice pay.

Your entitlement to notice pay will be specified in your contract of employment. However, if you do not have a contract or it does not cover this point, then your statutory entitlement will be one week for every complete year you have been employed with that company up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

If you have been employed for over two years, then you will also be entitled to a redundancy payment.

• Going to tribunal: The cost of privately funding a case if it goes to tribunal can be anything up to £5,000 in fees. It is not cheap but many solicitors will consider working for you under a contingency fee agreement, which means that they will take an agreed percentage of any compensation you recover if you win your case – not if you lose.

It is important to note that there are strict time limits for pursuing claims at the Employment Tribunal.

As a general rule, you only have three months less one day in which to make a claim at the Employment Tribunal. There are some exceptions to this rule. However, you should always take advice from a solicitor regarding this point.

• What you may recover: There are two elements to any damages you may recover if your claim for Unfair Dismissal is successful – the basic award which is calculated in the same way as redundancy pay and a compensatory award, which is largely based on your loss of earnings.

If you feel you have been unfairly dismissed, firstly, you will need to have worked for the company for at least one year.

You would then need to fill in the necessary forms to take your employer to a tribunal. If any money is still owed to you, you will need to first write a grievance letter and wait 28 days for a response before issuing a claim.

If it is ignored and you are still out of pocket you can then take your claim to the Employment Tribunal. Any earlier, your case would be rejected.

• Get legal advice: Speak to a solicitor if you are serious about taking your case to tribunal. A good solicitor will be able to identify firstly if you have a case and, secondly, if you have a good chance of winning.

This is vital if you are to avoid incurring legal costs that you will not be able to get back, even if you win.

Established in 2001, MTA Solicitors provides a wide range of legal services including personal injury, conveyancing, employment, debt, corporate law, general and commercial litigation and dispute resolution (including arbitration), IT and e-commerce, banking and finance, trusts, wills and probate, trust litigation and contentious probate.

MTA Solicitors clients span across many different business sectors in the UK and overseas; including major UK and global insurance companies, domestic and foreign banks, foreign law firms, offshore trustees, transport operators, local authorities, agents and service providers, and individuals.

MTA has offices based in London, Kent and Manchester and employs more than 250 lawyers. Visit: www.mtasolicitors.com for further information.