Employeer moving - what are my rights?

bogman_bass

The business I've been working for for the past 7 years is moving 40km away and this will add an hour each way to my daily commute.

I dont really want to want to move and all they are offering me is a €1000 "goodwill" payment which is a bith of an insult if I'm honest concidering I havent seen any increase in pay over those 7 years.

What are my rights here? Am I intitled to redundency because I'd take it if I was

wmpdd3

Is it just you? Are you in a union?

If there are a few of you then you could try negotiating with the boss.

What does your contract say? Mine says I can be asked to work within 1 hours travel from my home at 2 weeks notice.

If yours doesn't say anything like that then they are looking for a change of contract and its either accept it or refuse and negotiate with them for change of contract.

Stheno

bogman_bass wrote: »

The business I've been working for for the past 7 years is moving 40km away and this will add an hour each way to my daily commute.

I dont really want to want to move and all they are offering me is a €1000 "goodwill" payment which is a bith of an insult if I'm honest concidering I havent seen any increase in pay over those 7 years.

What are my rights here? Am I intitled to redundency because I'd take it if I was

Consult a solicitor, it's a fairly grey area in employment law.

bogman_bass

Other people in work will either have a shorter commute or not much of an increase. I'm the only one that is really being negitivly impacted. I'm in a union but to be honest they've been as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Nothing in contract about moving

Manach

As Stheno says.

In addition, and not legal advise, but my understanding is the any interpretation of the contract will be subject to a reasonableness test. That is if there might be a clause stating that for instance the employee might be transferred to another job, but that only applies to within the same geographical location - offhand this was from a UK Case call Briggs(?)

Mrs OBumble

How much of a commute do you have already?

What the job market like in your area? You may be better off to just get a new job elsewhere.

Nody

Honestly 40km would most likely fall with in what's seen as a reasonable distance (did not the PS use 50km for relocation of nurses?) and hence you'd be entitled to nothing but best bet is a solicitor to confirm/deny either way.

bogman_bass

doing 36km atm with no traffic and this is an additional 40km the far side with heavy traffic.

Mrs OBumble

Any public transport options, for at least part of the journey?

You might be able to make an argument for redundancy because it's moving to more than 50km from your home. But really that's lawyer or union territory to advice and argue - I certainly wouldn't be game to try negotiating it on my own.

But I would offer a caution: the fight to get a payout may be long, painful, and damage your reputation in the employment market. You may well be better off overall just finding another job closer to home, or moving closer to the current job's new location (depending on your ownership status, of course). Or maybe staying over the new location 2-3 days per week and working from home one day (if it's the type of job where that's an option).

bogman_bass

Certainly no public transport options.

From what I'm picking up here I dont have much of a leg to stand on.
Better to know these things than to go in all guns blazing

The_Conductor

Nody wrote: »

Honestly 40km would most likely fall with in what's seen as a reasonable distance (did not the PS use 50km for relocation of nurses?) and hence you'd be entitled to nothing but best bet is a solicitor to confirm/deny either way.

Redeployment, in the public sector, is allowed for within 45km of current work address or home address, whichever is the shorter, with account also being taken of a reasonable daily commute (there is no definition of what 'reasonable' might entail).

Its covered in Section 2 of the Haddington Road Agreement (the chapter on staff mobility).

OP- have a little chat with your union rep.........

therecklessone

Don't write off your chances just yet OP.

Firstly, change of place of employment may be considered as grounds for redundancy but the interpretation of what is a reasonable relocation is not fixed.

Citizen's Information

Redundancy can occur where one of the following things happen:

Your employer ceases to carry on business or ceases to carry on business in the place where you have been employed. (For example, if the firm moves location, this can be a substantial change in your working conditions and may therefore be a reason for redundancy

Given the details contained in The_Conductor's post below I'd argue there are certainly grounds for consideration of redundancy as very often public service norms are taken into account when deciding this sort of issue.

The_Conductor wrote: »

Redeployment, in the public sector, is allowed for within 45km of current work address or home address, whichever is the shorter, with account also being taken of a reasonable daily commute (there is no definition of what 'reasonable' might entail).

Its covered in Section 2 of the Haddington Road Agreement (the chapter on staff mobility).

OP- have a little chat with your union rep.........

That last point is very important, you need to talk to your local union rep and if they are not helpful then escalate to a full time union official for advice. You are paying union dues, so make sure you get the representation you pay for! If they continue to be of no help then consider professional advice from an employment solicitor.

Finally, if redundancy is not an option you should discuss the possibility of disturbance money as compensation with your reps.