Company relocating

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kimkim

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Hi,

I have searched the threads on this subject but cannot find any info. The company I work for is reloacting about 16 km from its current office in Dublin to a location just outside Dublin. This will make it very difficult for me to continue working there as it will add 32km a day to my existing commute which already takes up to an hour each way. Is there a certain distance that a company has to relocate by before an employee would be entitled to redundancy? What official body could I contact to find out more? It is a small company so there is no trade union.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Kimkim
 
Hi

We are going through this at the moment too. A small company similar to yours (we are merging with another company) I downloaded an article in the Irish Independent which outlines when redundancy will be granted. In my case, I will probably be going from a ten minute commute to a 2 hour one(each way) Its not really that much distance wise, but terrible traffic wise.

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle...e-my-employer-is-moving-location-1315226.html

The upshot is if your journey is significantly increased, you can opt for the redundancy. I was at a seminar last Thursday speaking to a girl whose company relocated from city centre to Parkwest area. Lots of their staff opted for redundancy (its not that far really)I want to opt for redundancy and try to organise something nearer as I've never had a long commute and really it would be my pet hate (even though my job is great)
However, theres not much out there at the moment, so be careful.

Contact NERA to find out more (I did not find them great on the phone)
 
Kimkim
You can opt for the Redundancy or you can try out the new situation for 1 month and if you find it unsuitable you can still opt for the redundancy.
 
Hi MandaC

Thanks so much for your reply. It all seems very vague, who can decide what is a reasonable distance? If your employer decides that the relocation distance is not unreasonable then where does that leave you? I really wouldn't like to approach my employer about redundancy before I had more concrete facts... I wonder is it possible to try out the new location first and see how the commute goes before opting for redundancy?

Anyway, I'll contact NERA and see what they say. Thanks for your help.

Kimkim
 
By the way, when you say you ca try out the new situation for 1 month, where is this length of time set out?
 
I thought you had up to six months and still opt for redundancy? I too would be interested if you could only test it for one month.

The people in Nera were very vague too about what consitutes "reasonable" commute, and it is the redundancy section who makes these decisions on a case by case basis.

Realistically, how long extra would it take you to commute the extra 16k. In the case examined in the article, because the person was already commuting an hour and the extra 10 miles was going to give them an extra 15 minutes, it did not look as if they might get it.


Also look in your contract for a "mobility" clause.
 
I haven't tried the new commute yet but it is more than doubling the distance (I currently travel about 8km to work which takes 45-60mins and this will rise to 24km , so I don't see it being less than 1.5 hours each way).

When you say it is the redundancy section that make the decisions on a case by case basis, is ths NERA that you are referring to? Do they decide what is reasonable and you can quote this to your employer?
 
No the way I took it up was that the decision to grant redundancy was granted or not when you sent in your RP50 Form(I think thats what it was called) No one was going to say yea or nea before that or commit until the form was sanctioned.

NERA only outline employment rights and are very vague on the phone.

Why dont you give them a ring and see what they say to you, let me know because I am interested in it too.
 
The redundancy Act (NERA) states that you can try out your new location for 1 month and still opt for redundancy if it is not suitable.
A friend went through this proceedure a couple of years ago but the Company was locating about 25 miles away so I don't know who decides what is an acceptable distance.
 
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