grievance & redundancy

• Hi Sarah
  
  Before you suggest they consider reaching an agreement with you, I would ask them a few questions in writing:
  
  what steps did they take to avoid your redundancy, as avoiding redundancy is their duty as employers,
  If they are doing this to cut costs, what cost cutting methods they introduced before turning to redundancy,
  How they identified your job as the one to be made redundant
  Who was put in a pool with you.
  What alternatives to redundancy have they considered and rejected
  Did they consider bumping.
  
  You will be able to come up with questions that fit the circumstances better than me. The point of asking the questions in writing is to get them to realise that the answers will reveal holes in their process.
  
  Depending on how they have split your duties between the MD’s wife (unusual job title) and the external company, you might also be able to argue that TUPE should apply and you should be transferring to the external company. If she is just taking on a few tasks and the bulk of your work is being outsourced, or if the time you spend on the tasks being outsourced is significantly more than those Mrs MD will take on, I would give this a try.
  
  I agree with Ray and Keith that your time with this company is over. If you can create doubts in their minds about their position, you will have a better chance of negotiating a decent settlement. Once you have got past the hurt of this situation, you may well look back and bless the day you got out of this business.

Hi Sarah

Without knowing all the exact circumstances, it is very difficult to offer any proper guidance except that, along lines Elizabeth advises, you need to ensure that you build up as much good evidence as you possibly can relating to the employer’s conduct towards you. For example, with your grievance, ask them in writing whether or not they intend to have worked through the grievance process before your redundancy dismissal takes effect and if not, why not. They are obliged in order even to make it begin to be a fair dismissal fully to consult you about it all, and, similarly, assuming they indeed do so, get in as many awkward / potentially damning questions as you can in writing to them and demand answers in writing. Unless they are very well advised and guided professionally they will probably not be able to contrive all this to be a legally fair dismissal and your mission should be to impede them from doing so as much as you possibly can.

To do so, you have your own resources and google etc but generally seek the best expert detailed advice you possibly can. We all can help you further on here and then there’s eg CIPD legal helpline; any legal advice centres locally ( university law schools often have similar too); ACAS; any household insurance legal protection you might have etc etc. Regard it maybe as your own professional development project in applied employment law.

All best with it, and do keep us posted

Hi Sarah

Without knowing all the exact circumstances, it is very difficult to offer any proper guidance except that, along lines Elizabeth advises, you need to ensure that you build up as much good evidence as you possibly can relating to the employer’s conduct towards you. For example, with your grievance, ask them in writing whether or not they intend to have worked through the grievance process before your redundancy dismissal takes effect and if not, why not. They are obliged in order even to make it begin to be a fair dismissal fully to consult you about it all, and, similarly, assuming they indeed do so, get in as many awkward / potentially damning questions as you can in writing to them and demand answers in writing. Unless they are very well advised and guided professionally they will probably not be able to contrive all this to be a legally fair dismissal and your mission should be to impede them from doing so as much as you possibly can.

To do so, you have your own resources and google etc but generally seek the best expert detailed advice you possibly can. We all can help you further on here and then there’s eg CIPD legal helpline; any legal advice centres locally ( university law schools often have similar too); ACAS; any household insurance legal protection you might have etc etc. Regard it maybe as your own professional development project in applied employment law.

All best with it, and do keep us posted