Redundancy queries; employer negotiations

[Kemo_Sabe]

Background; our office is closing down, we are an offshore sub of a very profitable overseas corporate. The workforce is non-unionised. All are white-collar professionals on relatively high salaries.

We know the date that the office will close for good - middle of next year. In order to facilitate an orderly wind-down of the business, each employee has been called aside and told the date that they will be offered to stay until. In return they will be 'incentivised' to stay - no details have yet been given of this incentive.
In addition, each employee will receive statutory redundancy plus 3 month's redundancy pay. This 3 months is common to all employees - whether you have worked for one year or ten.

The staff are quite angry with these terms as offered - especially the 3 months redundancy pay condition. People see this as being insulting towards those with long service to the company. In the case of someone with 10 year's service, this amounts to a payment of 1.3 weeks pay per year of service.

The company would be very adverse to any negative publicity.

Questions:

1. Can we as a workforce force the employer to engage with us collectively? We all see this as being the ideal way to get an improved redundancy offer from the Company. Is there any legislation that covers this?

2. Are there any options open to us in terms of using the industrial relations machinery of the State?

thanks in advance

 

[Setanta12]

They must 'consult', expect them to ask for representatives from the workforce. Plenty of legislation covering this. The legislation is pretty straight-forward too and doesn't really need an expert.

But, everyone must remember that at the end of the day, the company will be closed down - any 'concessions' the workers earn will be largely for the benefit of the remaining workforce, the company has no loyalty towards those leaving, no need to keep their goodwill.

I'll chase down a few useful links but the usual Government websites are good.

 

[Gryire]

Background; our office is closing down, we are an offshore sub of a very profitable overseas corporate. The workforce is non-unionised. All are white-collar professionals on relatively high salaries.

We know the date that the office will close for good - middle of next year. In order to facilitate an orderly wind-down of the business, each employee has been called aside and told the date that they will be offered to stay until. In return they will be 'incentivised' to stay - no details have yet been given of this incentive.
In addition, each employee will receive statutory redundancy plus 3 month's redundancy pay. This 3 months is common to all employees - whether you have worked for one year or ten.

The staff are quite angry with these terms as offered - especially the 3 months redundancy pay condition. People see this as being insulting towards those with long service to the company. In the case of someone with 10 year's service, this amounts to a payment of 1.3 weeks pay per year of service.

The company would be very adverse to any negative publicity.

Questions:

1. Can we as a workforce force the employer to engage with us collectively? We all see this as being the ideal way to get an improved redundancy offer from the Company. Is there any legislation that covers this?

2. Are there any options open to us in terms of using the industrial relations machinery of the State?

thanks in advance

Statutory redundancy is 2 weeks @ €600 per year of service. This will reward the long serving employees to a degree.

 

[Kemo_Sabe]

Statutory redundancy is 2 weeks @ €600 per year of service. This will reward the long serving employees to a degree.

I suppose so but 1200 per year of service is not large in the context of people's earnings in this company (wouldn't be anywhere near an average week's gross earnings for most of us)

 

[Mpsox]

You have a legal constitutional right to join a trade union, if you so wish. It's currently debatable as to whether or not your employer has to recognise that trade union, certainally if they fight it, they could drag it out until after the company closes

The redundancy terms are unusual but certainly not illegal. In many companies, the 3 months would be no more then the notice period for many long terms staff so this really sounds to me to be no more then a PILON (Pay in lieu of notice) payment then anything else.

In order to negotiate better terms, the question is, how far are you prepared to push this? At the minute, you have limited bargaining tools, unless you are prepared to picket the company.