Voluntary Leave - solicitor recommendation

[gnf_ireland]

A friend's company is going through a large voluntary leave scheme at the moment and they are hoping to get accepted. However, their manager has indicated they may not be accepted as they are looking at them changing role into a new one after the scheme has completed. My friend does not want the new role but wants to leave instead. He believes his current job (title) will be made redundant as part of the reorganisation.

Can anyone recommend a good employment law solicitor that may be able to provide advice in the area, just in case the worst comes to the worst?

 

[Leo]

Voluntary leave or voluntary redundancy?

How well does he trust his management/ employers?

 

[Purple]

He believes his current job (title) will be made redundant as part of the reorganisation.

If so then his employer can just offer him redundancy.

 

[gnf_ireland]

Voluntary leave or voluntary redundancy?

Voluntary Redundancy - its called VL in the company

How well does he trust his management/ employers?

If so then his employer can just offer him redundancy.

He wants to take the redundancy. However he is a fear that the management team would like to keep him and force change his role/job title. He has no interest in the role he appears to be 'lined up for'. However, there are external factors at play including number of people applying and new management structures.
Basically his question is in the event his job is made redundant, can he be blocked from getting Voluntary Redundancy and forced to work in another job (he is not interested in) - if that makes sense?
Its about how he ensures he gets out (with the package), rather than wanting to stay

 

[Leo]

Voluntary Redundancy - its called VL in the company

Softens the messaging while introducing ambiguity

It's at management discretion who gets chosen for voluntary redundancy, and that's why his trust & relationship with management is important. Your friend is under no obligation to take on a different role, but perhaps management would see this as the same or similar role, just in a different area or with different responsibilities. I know of cases where a similar approach was used to retain more valued staff members while eliminating others in similar positions in mandatory redundancies.

If your friend has a good relationship with his management, there is nothing to lose by telling them he is not interested in the alternative role, would prefer to take the package, and would likely resign rather than accept the role. If they are reasonable, they will facilitate this and retain the next preferred candidate. They'll know the alternative is having to hire a replacement for your friend which will be costly and time consuming.

 

[ReesesPieces]

When I was made redundant, it was part of a larger process where on my team there were three roles being turned into two, and each of those three people had to apply for one of those two roles. If you chose not to, you forfeited the redundancy payment. The situation is that the new role has to be a suitable alternative - your friend may not want to have the new role, but if the tasks he is doing are broadly the same but the context has changed, he may not have any choice except to leave the company with no payout.

In our case, my role was distinct enough I was offered a choice to apply with the others or to take the redundancy. But for many of the others, the roles were completely different in terms of what they would be doing day to day but their job descriptions were vague enough - management, financial oversight, etc etc - that the change to the role wasn't great enough to justify redundancy. The two who took the roles both left within a year once they had secured alternative roles elsewhere, as they didn't want the new job, but only one of the three got a redundancy payment.

 

[gnf_ireland]

Thanks for the detail above. I have asked him to review is job specification and see how it goes from there. Another new weeks of patiently waiting for him (and others) I am guessing !

 

[mtk]

If he wants the package ....
just hang in there and see what happens
and
don't resign in haste.

 

[Leo]

If he wants the package ....
just hang in there and see what happens

If he's not one of those chosen for the package, then it may be too late to get on the list once the time comes and everyone has those impacted have been informed. That happened where I worked previously, a couple of people left not long after the redundancies were handed out and management said if they had been aware they would have facilitated them.

 

[mtk]

If he's not one of those chosen for the package, then it may be too late to get on the list once the time comes and everyone has those impacted have been informed. That happened where I worked previously, a couple of people left not long after the redundancies were handed out and management said if they had been aware they would have facilitated them.

Maybe so but who knows what management has in mind. If its all about cost they might say to them selves "why pay redundancy if he says he will leave anyway at zero cost"?

More importantly OP will your friend have to "apply" for this "new role" ? if so just dont if he wants package?

 

[Leo]

Maybe so but who knows what management has in mind. If its all about cost they might say to them selves "why pay redundancy if he says he will leave anyway at zero cost"?

Hence my earlier questions about the relationship with and trust of the management. As I said, where I experienced this in the past, a couple of people who spoke to their managers did get on the list, a few who didn't, (and at least one I know of who didn't have good relationships with their manager) didn't get on the list. Most of those who wanted to be on the list but weren't chosen left over time.

If this person leaves though, it won't be a zero cost move for the company. They will have recruitment costs to re-hire for the role they are obviously keeping, and training/ productivity impact over a period of time until the new hire is fully up to speed.