advice re my redundancy meeting tommorow at 8.30am

[Quiff Wichard]

anyone been there?



just got the first 20 minute consultation meet before they mark the "pool " of people who are up for possible reundancy .

have been givena list of criteria that we are neing marked against and I will score good on it all but hey we all know these things can be manipulated !

and guess what!! I am a bit of a mouth at work and voice my opinion so maybe being considered a maverick will make my marks a little lower- we will see.


ao any advice?
anyone been there? I sure lots have

also If I consider volunteering for redundancy I have been told that I would not be able to claim benefit ( not intending to but u never know) for 20 odd weeks as I made myself jobless. any job centre folk or shop stewards here? plus would it show as voluntary ? on my redndancy letter?


thanks

[squirrel_hunter]

Been there before and expect be be there again anytime soon.

If you have the criteria and you know what you might get then you can make your own decision on your chances. Yes it can be manipulated, but if it is say based on your yearly performance review and you had it quite recently then its easier to find fault if there are big differences between then and now.

Other than that its pretty much out of your hands. The only thing left to say is gallows humor, you might be loosing your job but at least your having a laugh at the same time.

Good luck.

My last company, who shal remain nameless, didn't ask for volunteers for redundancy, but asked who would not object to being made redundant, thus getting around the benefit problem. If you want to go, then perhaps you could stress that you wouldn't object to it, but wouldn't volunteer.

I, of course, didn't object to it! Had 17 years in and it was the best thing I ever did!

Some of these meetings expect you to bring along justification for why you should stay in the role.<P></P>

I had to make a member of staff redundant earlier this year, and go through the different meeting processes.<P></P> 1. It was no fun as he was a friend as well as a colleague.<P></P> 2. He knew that his job role was closing, and could see business justification for it, so he didn't even bother trying to justify his role (I was gutted).<P></P>

Just remember that in a lot of cases it isn't the managers choice, it could be down to headcount limitations on departments and then making people re-apply for their jobs. No fun for anyone - BUT - if you don't want redundancy ( you'd be surprised at how many people do) you should go into the meeting with good business reasons about your role, why it is important, what you bring to the business and other reasons.... It's not always that simple but it doesn't hurt.<P></P>

Another thing to think about is gardening leave if you have to go - they will often have to give you a statuary notice period, and they should give you support in job hunting, time off for interviews etc. <P></P>

Good Luck

[fizzwheel]

Just been through this at our place.

My advice. Sit quiet, listen to what they say to you in the meeting and then sit back and wait for it to happen.

Chances are they wont ask for voluntary redunancy, they'll score everybody on the criteria and then those with the lowest scores go.

They should support you in time off for interviews etc etc Also you might find that they dont require you to work your notice or will put you on gardening leave.

Personally just try and stay positive and try not to overly worry. If its going to happen it will and theres not a huge amount you can do about it.

Its never nice, but if you approach it professionally and with some dignity you will get through it.

[Quiff Wichard]

cheers to all of you-

lots of food for thought there

I really do appreciate you takin the time to type responses..

Just don't let them mess you around.

I got my leaving date (7th Aug) and new job lined up to start on 1st Sept, when the time got nearer they realised they'd balled up and needed me to stay longer. I had to fight my corner to go on the original date.

This was two years ago Aug just gone, and my two colleges have only just left. Talk about getting it wrong.

[husky03]

Quiff double check how this will affect your mortgage(if you have one) cover-i know some won't cover the payments because you "made yourself" redundant

husky

Sorry to be a downer but didnt you leave the job a while ago ? if you did, did you get reinstated as before, in other words if you had built up say 5 years service and left then,when you were reinstated did you get reinstated with all the service intact as before, cos if you left and came back say 6 months ago you,ve only got 6 months service , Im an ex shop steward with the T&G and as long as you,ve got your old service to fall back on you may be ok, but if you,ve in your current employment less than 2 yrs you,re not really entitiled to anything legally, morally is a different subject, hope it all works out for you mate, are you in a union btw ?

I'm due to leave my company on 24th, we were told our department were being made redundant in February and to expect it to be end of August. We didn't get a definite date until the beginning of August when they pushed it our until 30th Sept. Most of the department has gone now, but there are a few still there. I was offered another position which I was allowed a 4 week trial in, but decided it wasn't for me so I'm off in a couple of weeks. We've been really lucky with our company, although the communication has been bad for dates etc, they've helped everywhere they can, so as much as it can be bad news, it may lead to better things for you.

Good luck!