Redundency

[dot.haukes]

Hi guys, we started out 90 day collective consultation period yesterday and our final working date is August 19th. there are 750 employees all across England, Scotland, N.I. and Ireland. The company are offering statutory redundency based on an average of our salary as we are partly commission based, which is quite good, however, at the initial 'jobs at risk' meeting, the area managers told all of us concession managers that there would be a loyalty bonus scheme for those members of the staff who stayed with the company to the end of the 90 day consultation period.
At the collective consultation meeting of the representatives and managment yesterday, ( I am one of the 11 elected representatives) the HR manager said there would now not be a loyalty bonus scheme offered.

Is there anyway of making the company reinstate their original offer? Or whatever it was the area managers did, which was basically read from a script.

[ItsdotFunny]

i'm a manager but i cant spell managment

[ummmm]

Link looks good dot. I sooo wish I was girlie :-(

[dot.haukes]

yeah ummmm, actually me too cos i buy mainly boots, I have had so many free shoes over the years, i should actually go for something different, i might try fashion foir a change, maybe i'm sick of looking at people's feet lol

[buildersmate]

Dot
If this is a serious question to which you would still appreciate answers, then I will respond.
At times it is now hard to understand who the fakers are on this site.

[dot.haukes]

Hi Buildersmate, thanks for your interest, yeah it is a deathly serious question, i have been nominated , proposed and elected as the representative of an area of 27 concessions within a host store which means about 150 people are facing redundancy in those stores, (there are 750 members of staff across 6 areas all on 90 days consultation)'
I have been working every day this week at collecting their feedback to the news that we would not be getting the previously announced loyalty bonus. i am also trying to compile figures and statistics on who is entitled to redundancy and who is not, plus who is going to have their 20+ years service capped, some ladies have 28 years service and are furious that their first 8 years are not going to count.

I would like to know what president there is for non statutory redundancy being paid in the UK. I guess it has happened more than once though, it is all so intense!!! i don;t think i've done anything this week except talk to staff from Newcastle down to Scunthorpe and from Leeds to Bangor! It's a huge area!

[buildersmate]

I appreciate from the answers that you provide on here that you know quite a bit about this, so I apologise if this goes over old ground. The best place to start is probably here - the BERR website.
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/emp loyment-legislation/employment-guidance/page13 852.html
The process started (I assume) on 19th May, which was the day you wrote the question. Isuggest you work through these points carefully if you haven't already done so - it isn't the actual statute law, but it's an excellent interpretation of the actual law.
I also assume that collective bargaining rights don't apply, but then you say you are being nominated as the 'appropriate representative of the employees'.
Firstly, then, when was this 'loyalty bonus scheme' mentioned? - presumably some time before the start of the current process? Were any figures mentioned? - the trouble being that the company could turn around and say ' the bonus is �10 to each person, pal'.
Secondly, there are minimum bits of information that must be supplied (to the reps) at the start of the 90 day process - see half way down the BERR page under 'What Information must be disclosed'. Have that little lot been supplied to you by the employer?
I'm afraid that I don't think there are any precedents regarding payments more than the minimum statutory amounts - unless it is mentioned anywhere that could be construed as part of T&Cs (many public sector departments have this - not so in private sector). i.e. just because the company paid X amount last time a redundancy situation applied doesn't mean it has to do the same again.
Thirdly I'm afraid I believe that the 20 year rule is what the statutory legislation caps the payments at. Of course there is no obligation for the employer to limit the payments at 20

[buildersmate]

Oh dear - usual website trouble - useless website has chopped my answer at 2000 words without warning me it was just over 2000 words.
Last bit said:
'20 years and you and your 10 colleagues could negotiate something different that didn't cap it at 20 years. That's what consultation is all about'

[dot.haukes]

thanks for that buildersmate, what your reply has made me realise is that representatibves should not be diverted from their targets in the process and try to secure settlements for individuals, rather then just allowing the company to railroad everyone down the statutary route, those people who have worked for the company for 20 years starting at aged 16 are also losing out, as their first year is not counted and their service from 18 - 21 is being halved, but they feel very aggrieved and they also should be treated as individuals with loyalty to the company.

I think maybe a tactic of negotiation would be to suggest at the next meeting, that people who are losing these years, either over 20 years service, or those who started under 22, should be considered loyal and therefore given the years as a full week at least as a form of loyalty, that would not be a great sum and might be worth looking at.

thanks.