Partner made redundant last week.....

mollycasey

Hi All

My partner was made redundant last week and is due to finish work next week, his employer has offered him a 3 day week job with another company and we need to find out if he takes this will he not be entitle to his statutory redundancy?

Thanks

surpy

citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/unemployment_and_redundancy/redundancy/redundancy_procedures.html

"If you accept an offer in writing from your employer for a new and different contract which will take effect within 4 weeks of the ending of the previous contract, you will not be entitled to claim redundancy"

my reading of it is that acceptance of this will remove your partners right to statutory redundancy hpwever

"Generally speaking, alternatives which involve a loss of status or worsening of the terms and conditions of your employment would not be considered reasonable. Similarly, you may be justified in refusing an offer that involves you travelling an unreasonable distance to work."

so im thinking he doesnt have to take it but

"You may take up an alternative on trial for up to 4 weeks"

*******


the only thing im not sure about is that its in another company. one of the experts on here should know more

Stheno

surpy wrote: »

the only thing im not sure about is that its in another company. one of the experts on here should know more

I think this is the key thing, the person is losing their job in company x and taking up employment potentially with company y, so for me redundancy would still be an entitlement

surpy

im tending to agree with you Stheno

however things that may come into play here is the circumstance of how this offer has been made for theother company
e.g. are they branches of the same organisation, or does the employer own both and therefore they are subsidiaries of some parent group.

what sticks out for me is that his employer is in a position to offer a job somewhere else so it suggests there could be some connection which may have an impact on the redundancy payment

mollycasey, does your partner have a HR or union rep they could speak with

mollycasey

thanks for the replies..

the new offer of employment is with a new company that his employer will now be employed by them also. he has always worked 40 hours a week for his current employer so if he takes the new job he will only be working approx 24 hours per week so i am hoping he will still get the redundancy.

he has no one else in the company to ask as he was the only employee...

i have read the citizens advise info on it but im still not sure!

Stheno

mollycasey wrote: »

thanks for the replies..

the new offer of employment is with a new company that his employer will now be employed by them also. he has always worked 40 hours a week for his current employer so if he takes the new job he will only be working approx 24 hours per week so i am hoping he will still get the redundancy.

he has no one else in the company to ask as he was the only employee...

i have read the citizens advise info on it but im still not sure!

So is the current company closing down?

And who owns the new company?

mollycasey

Stheno wrote: »

So is the current company closing down?

And who owns the new company?

Yes the company is closing, the new company is a larger company owned by a family i think and it is a nationwide company with multiple outlets.

Stheno

mollycasey wrote: »

Yes the company is closing, the new company is a larger company owned by a family i think and it is a nationwide company with multiple outlets.

Ok so the existing company is closing and your partner and his current employer are going to work there as employees?

Or does the current employer own the new company?

mollycasey

Stheno wrote: »

Ok so the existing company is closing and your partner and his current employer are going to work there as employees?

Or does the current employer own the new company?

Hi Stheno

Yes the current employer is going to work there too and no he does not own the company, from what i take the new company has bought out the existing employer as all future business will be done thru the new company.

it would be so much easier if i could give you the names as it would be less confusing!!

Stheno

mollycasey wrote: »

Hi Stheno

Yes the current employer is going to work there too and no he does not own the company, from what i take the new company has bought out the existing employer as all future business will be done thru the new company.
!

Now it's getting messy as technically if the company is being taken over then TUPE legislation applies.

From citizens information (not everything in the link is included in the quote.)

Has your OH asked his employer if he will get redundancy if he takes up the new offer?

If a business is taken over by another employer as a result of a legal merger or transfer the rights of the employees are protected by legislation. The European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 apply to an "undertaking" which can be a business but could also be a charity or non-profit-making organisation. All of the business where you work need not be transferred; if the part you work in is being sold off or contracted out, the Regulations will apply.
Rules

For a transfer of undertaking to take place:

There must be a change in the person (either an individual or a company) responsible for running the undertaking/business
The previous economic activity of the undertaking/business must be carried on by the new employer
The undertaking/business must be transferred as a "going concern".

A transfer under the Regulations does not occur in the case of a compulsory liquidation of the undertaking/business.
Contract of employment

Under the Regulations the new employer is legally obliged to take on the existing employees of the business. The terms and conditions and your employer’s obligations in your contract of employment are automatically transferred to your new employer, except for pensions – see below. If there is a collective agreement your new employer must continue to its terms and conditions until it expires or is replaced.

P45: In some circumstances employees involved in a transfer of business may be given a P45 by their old employer. They should give this to their new employer. For the purposes of redundancy legislation a transfer of business does not break the employees’ continuity of service. Instead it is transferred to their new employment.

mollycasey

Hi Stheno

He has asked him and he has been told yes he will get the redundancy if he takes up the offer but he thinks when it comes to actually getting it, it will be a different story. Also he has now been asked to work for the new company next tuesday so if this happeneds will it have a negative impact on the redundancy?

Stheno

mollycasey wrote: »

Hi Stheno

He has asked him and he has been told yes he will get the redundancy if he takes up the offer but he thinks when it comes to actually getting it, it will be a different story. Also he has now been asked to work for the new company next tuesday so if this happeneds will it have a negative impact on the redundancy?

No idea on the second question, sorry.

bee06

Seek advice from a solicitor to cover yourselves.

Eoin

mollycasey wrote: »

Also he has now been asked to work for the new company next tuesday so if this happeneds will it have a negative impact on the redundancy?

As has been suggested, I'd get legal advice pretty sharpish to ensure that he's not implicitly accepting anything.

It's not as simple as it sounded originally, as Stheno has mentioned. Does his contract say how many hours per week he should work? If his contract says it's the 40 hours he's working at the moment, then the new company should be giving him the same (see the part that Stheno quoted).

stevenmu

mollycasey wrote: »

Hi Stheno

Yes the current employer is going to work there too and no he does not own the company, from what i take the new company has bought out the existing employer as all future business will be done thru the new company.

it would be so much easier if i could give you the names as it would be less confusing!!

One suggestion I would make is that the terms you are using are a little confusing. Generally a person is employed by a company or similar legal entity, not a person, so while you might commonly say that your partner is employer by the person Joe Bloggs, technically they are actually employed by Company A. There may be exceptions to that but they would be uncommon. Therefore the employer (Company A) is not going to work for the new company, but your partner's boss Joe Bloggs is.

I'm not a lawyer or even remotely close, but I would guess that you partner's entitlement to redundancy will depend on
-Who or what he is technically currently employed by
and
-Who or what is transferring to the new company. If Company A is dissapearing and Joe Bloggs and your partner would be new employees of the new company that means one thing. If the new company has purchased Company A, and your partner and Joe Bloggs are transferring over to the new company that means something else entirely.

As suggested above, I'd suggest you need to get proper legal advice, either from your own solicitor/lawyer, or by contacting someone like NERA. But in advance of that, try to find out exactly what legal entity employs your partner, and what is actually happening to that legal entity.