This is a first for me...

[jumpy]

REDUNDANCY

middle management: we were supposed to make 2 million quid this year, and we've only made 800,000... so we're going to have to make some people redundant.

Me: great, who didn't see that one coming?


Bosses lick balls to be quite fking honest. My colleague and I have until Wednesday this week to take voluntary redundancy or they choose who goes on our behalf...

Brass handshakes all round :down:

[STEED]

It's the kick you out of a job season jumpy, just in time for Christmas. I know what it feels like gone though it three times and I too am now facing a fourth time, conformation next or the week after in the big meeting. We have been told we all lost our pensions but in my case I opted out when I joined as I already gone though that process.

[Kapitan]

yeah it is crappy get a job where they cant make you redundant, like my job always needing bin men to work the rounds its not too bad pay either but cant make me redundant.

[Letum]

I have sympathy.
/postal worker blog

[U49]

I know that situation too.
But for one thing you can be sure:

2 millions planned, 800k achieved, that is roughly about 50%.
50% leads us to one you two has to go, OK. I understand this calculation.
BUT:
50% cut in mid-level management ???
50% cut in big-boss-pay-check???

An idea:
Offer both of you to leave (this makes 100% to save money, should make the big-boss happy) and go both to the competition?

[jumpy]

^^
hehe, this is sort of what we've discussed amongst ourselves. Neither of us will be comfortable remaining in an unpleasent situation at work, with the spectre of further redundancy lurking around the next corner.

TBH I find the whole thing to be something to be turned to my advantage = get a better paid job elsewhere after the prefect "reason for leaving your last job" you can't very well say 'because it were ***t!' now can you? :lol:

And to top this all off today, my better half is in hospital having her sinuses cleaned out and enlarged slightly. So from about 8pm UK time, I've been sat with my nearest and dearest whilst she has been coughing up blood like you wouldn't believe, bleeding out of her eyes, not her nose as this is packed with gauze etc :o. As part of an on-going problem, she would have had to wait another 7 months to have it done on the NHS, but is cost 4 days in time to arrange and £2112.00 to have it done in a private hospital. You get better treatment and care if you pay for it, that's for sure.

All round perfect timing for a redundancy eh? Bunch of c**** that they are.

[SUBMAN1]

Being partially redundant is an OK thing. You can make the mistake in which you become indispensable, and in that case, you get a glass ceiling put over your head. You will never get laid off, but you will also never get promoted. Stuck in a dead end job forever unless you physically change it. Redundancy has it's plus side.

-S

[The WosMan]

I hear that.

[STEED]

As part of an on-going problem, she would have had to wait another 7 months to have it done on the NHS, but is cost 4 days in time to arrange and £2112.00 to have it done in a private hospital. You get better treatment and care if you pay for it, that's for sure.

My farther had a choice NHS waiting time one year and no guarantee or BUPA at the cost of £4000 odd pounds and be operated in less than a month he went private. Another year of a lot of pain waiting on the NHS was no way, so much for the Labour promises which turned out to be lies.

Hope your wife is alright jumpy. :up:

[DeepIron]

to take voluntary redundancy...
Excuse my ignorance, is this the same as being voluntarily "laid off" versus "We terminate your employment"?

[STEED]

to take voluntary redundancy...

Excuse my ignorance, is this the same as being voluntariy "laid off" versus "We terminate your employment"?

What it means you say bye, bye and they don't have the burden to lay you off, I say give them the burden that's why they get the big money.

[DeepIron]

I agree... Give 'em the burden, and maybe a little heartburn to go with it... :smug:

My last (and final) job as an IT Admin required me to write down the various username/passwords used throughout the network, routers, firewalls, servers, etc., and give them to my (former) boss.

I got "terminated" without notice and management used the "poor job performance" excuse, even after I had received a substantial raise and a glowing evaluation not two months earlier and had managed a $250K ERP upgrade project and brought it in under budget

Anyway, my (former) boss called me up about a month after I left because he needed the passwords to the routers and firewall. I asked him why and he said "he misplaced them"... He was hoping I would "do him a favor"...

I told him it would cost them $10K for me to come back and take care of the problem as a consultant because I didn't work for them anymore...

[Chock]

Obviously this is not a pleasant situation to be in, and both my missus and myself have been in it too in the past. But what is compensatory, is the knowledge that if the company was trying to save money in letting you go, it's the beginning of a downward spiral for them, and their situation will not be improved by the loss of you or your colleague, both of whom will take all their experience out of the door too when they go.

Typically what will happen is that the company will realise that they really did need two people, and so will attempt to get someone in for a lot less money. And when they pay peanuts, they will of course get a monkey. What they really should address is the management who failed in getting enough work for both you and your colleague in the first place, but of course it was their decision, so that never happens, still, rest assured that their time will come.

My wife Max read this over my shoulder and concurred with me that frankly, if you are with a company like that, apart from the pain in the ass of switching jobs and a relatively short period of difficulty while that happens, you're better off out of there.

'Sit back and laugh your ass off when they all lose their jobs in three months time, like I did!' - that was a quote from my wife. Who now does work she used to do at that company, but as freelancer, and gets paid twice as much for doing it in half the time:rotfl:

:D Chock

[jumpy]

Thanks for those encouraging words, all. :up:
Missy is back home and propped up amongst loads of pillows on the sofa, like some latter day elder duchess. When I have a minute to spare from running about looking after her, I shall fill you in on the work things as it stands after tomorrow.:D

[The Munster]

@Jumpy .. redundancy always looks better on your C.V.
@Kapitan .. this is a situation I think you will understand as we are in similar careers LOL
The 'Mob' I'm working for have 2 wage structures .. the good one includes bonus and a 6 month sickness scheme with no loss of earnings
the bad one .. no bonus and no sick pay [or any pay] for the first 3 days then you have to submit a Doctor's note then keep your fingers crossed for a Month.
How did this happen ?
In house lost the contract to Onyx which had the good stuff then after X amount of years, lost the Contract [for whatever reason put will probably involve money] back to In house. A 'Governing Body' stipulated that In house had to keep on the men with the good stuff they had with Onyx which they agreed to; what came after took or left the other structure. I am one of these and at the moment, I'm working on a Month to Month Contract = makes for many a sleepless night !
As a result of this 2 tier system, you have guys [sorry Pen] who take a sickie anytime they like with no loss of earnings and others limping along and falling asleep in the Cab due to working 6-2, 10 days on a trot on flat rate to get a half decent salary.
Just a little 'food for thought'.

[Jimbuna]

Sad news all round people :nope:

To the Brits here....if contracts are lost to tender and transferance of employees results...ask about TUPE (transfer of personal undertakings)....it is a legal requirement now under the Employment Relations Act :yep:

[The Munster]

By all accounts, this was implemented and accepted by this Mob and conditions and contracts were accepted by them. It's the people that came after that are treated like second rate citizens with 'Victorian' working practises and having no leg to stand on and no 'body' to turn to that makes my blood boil !
Personally, I have a choice, walk out but that wouldn't look too good on the C.V. or bust my A**E working month to month.

[Jimbuna]

It's often referred to as 'withering on the vine' (let the old contracts die as people leave and re-engage new staff on revised contracts).
The workforce should organise themselves and join a Trade Union :hmm:

[The Munster]

GMB [Ha Ha]

Maggie took all the power away from the Unions and Labour came to power, looked at the Union situation and decided that 'it it isn't broke, don't fix it'
No way were they going to give power back to the Unions even though Labour supposed to represent the working man.
Anyway, never a dull moment with this job .. encountered a rat for the first time this morning and ended up calling on some druggies for their used needles on the afternoon.
Apparently, this Mob runs a service where a druggie can ring up and have their needles removed, prevents them getting thrown out and discarded where they could be available to children etc. Guy No.2 drew the short straw and had to knock on the door and wait for them to answer and hand them over.
Think I'll start a Blog.

[Jimbuna]

GMB [Ha Ha]

Maggie took all the power away from the Unions and Labour came to power, looked at the Union situation and decided that 'it it isn't broke, don't fix it'
No way were they going to give power back to the Unions even though Labour supposed to represent the working man.
Anyway, never a dull moment with this job .. encountered a rat for the first time this morning and ended up calling on some druggies for their used needles on the afternoon.
Apparently, this Mob runs a service where a druggie can ring up and have their needles removed, prevents them getting thrown out and discarded where they could be available to children etc. Guy No.2 drew the short straw and had to knock on the door and wait for them to answer and hand them over.
Think I'll start a Blog.

So what is it exactly that you do ? I think you once mentioned something about beaches :hmm:

[The Munster]

I was on the Beaches but was seasonal; they took me on and promoted me to 'spare man' on a month to month basis.

@jumpy, sorry mate, I got carried away and ended up hijacking your thread :oops:
Please accept my apologies.

[jumpy]

@jumpy, sorry mate, I got carried away and ended up hijacking your thread :oops:
Please accept my apologies.
lol, no apology required mate ;)

[STEED]

Think I'll start a Blog.

Get on with it then, better be funny as well. :arrgh!:

[jumpy]

Righto, a little update for you all regarding my untimely redundancy:

The company have agreed to supply me with references that I can vet and confirmation that the position I held at the company is now redundant so I can sign on, keep my house contents and car insurance paid up etc. This is what they are required to do by law.

Now, under UK employment law, because I have worked for the company (on their books) for 2 years and 8 months I have the statutory right to 2 weeks written notice of redundancy. If you recall I may have mentioned that I and my colleague were told verbally on Monday afternoon and expected to confirm by Wednesday the same week.
Because the company failed to notify us in the required time period, I am entitled to be compensated for this - 2 weeks pay in lieu of the 2 week notification period (& for my colleague, she has been with the company for 8 years so current UK law states she must have a weeks notice for every years service up to a limit of 12 years). This payment is to be made on top of my redundancy payment (redundancy lump sum is tax free).

So far the company have tacked on my compensation to my months severance pay, which is taxable. Plus they have not done as I asked and detailed where all of the figures have come from and been worked out for severance pay, redundancy pay, outstanding holiday pay, and the compensation.

The place I worked for is one of, if not the largest refrigeration contractor in the UK. It completely staggers me that they should get the process of initiating staff redundancy so badly wrong. It's not like the people who draw up the paperwork don't know the law regarding this, after all it's their job, damn it. I can only conclude that they think we'll just acquiesce to whatever they say contractually, believing that we think their rules supersede the government legislature concerning employment. In other words, they are doing all of this on purpose so they don't have to pay out or follow the rules if they thing they can get away with it.

I don't want to hound them for making me redundant,far from it, but I will not stand by whilst I get screwed over in procedure for the sake of a couple of hundred quid.

I have a meeting with one of the middle bosses on Monday morning where I hope to iron out the errors in their offer.
As with so many things employees are supposed to be loyal to their employer, but when push comes to shove it's a very different story when it comes to the company's loyalty to do right by their employees.

Fortunately my other half is on the road to recovery following her operation and is doing well, if a little emotionally shaky. Doubly good for me is that her mother works for the Citizens Advice Bureau and has given me a wealth of information about redundancy which has enabled me to see how I have not been fairly dealt with by my employer thus far - also this is good for my colleague who also had no knowledge of the correct proceedings and stands to gain a good deal more in recompense due to her years of service, also being in her early 50's, this knowledge will leave her in a better financial position given that she had intended to stay with the company until retirement and so had no contingency plans to take into account the possibility of loosing her job.

Long gone are the days when you could say you had a job for life. Profitability is the name of the game and that's all that matters to the new MD and our parent company- whilst we were making a healthy profit for them they were content to leave us alone, but now we have this new guy to make even more money for them and the most obvious way to do this is to get rid of staff at all of our branches across the country. The word is that the two remaining draughtsman will have to shoulder the workload which (though the refrigeration business is seasonal; quiet in winter and busy in summer) has not diminished in quantity and if there is an over spill, then the company will employ a temp who know nothing about the job, on a crap wage for one or two days per week to alleviate this.

My personal feeling is that this is a false economy. But what do I know, apart from having to fight for my legal entitlement to being treated in a fair and correct manner, that is?

Wish me luck for Monday and getting shot of this mess and the people who created it ;)
Then I can devote my attention to getting a better job and looking after her for a couple of weeks.

[bigboywooly]

Yep best of luck to you
Dont let them screw you over
In a union ? They will get you sorted

I suppose thats one thing about the Royal Mail
They have it all down pat
Practice makes perfect

And the PO used to be a job for life if ever there was one

[kurtz]

Yes been made redundant twice and jumped a few times before I was pushed and as has been observed always at xmas, where those left behind won't strike.

Glad your missus is on the mend. I do feel I need to point out that you pay for the NHS anyway, it makes me really angry that you have to pay twice to get any kind of service.
Apparently, this Mob runs a service where a druggie can ring up and have their needles removed, prevents them getting thrown out and discarded where they could be available to children etc. Guy No.2 drew the short straw and had to knock on the door and wait for them to answer and hand them over.
Think I'll start a Blog.

Excellent leave them the time to enjoy their recreational drugs.:nope:

Good luck, I think you'll find out it turns out for the best.

[Jimbuna]

Yep best of luck to you
Dont let them screw you over
In a union ? They will get you sorted

I suppose thats one thing about the Royal Mail
They have it all down pat
Practice makes perfect

And the PO used to be a job for life if ever there was one

Something that was often said about Local Government too :doh:

[jumpy]

of an old thread as an update:

I start a new job on the 11th of February as a setting out draughtsman for a shopfitting company. I went for the interview this morning and the job was mine in the afternoon.
I'm kind of happy I got a job now, but at the same time I've enjoyed immensely living off my redundancy money and not having to go to work- I've got loads of things done during this time that I'm sure I wouldn't have had time for otherwise.

The salary is good (well, 'ok' when you take into account the number of hours I'll be working) at 18k for monday - friday 8am till 5:30pm and 3:30pm on a friday. Half hour for lunch. So I guess that comes to about 7 or 8 quid per hour. Then there's the tax-mans cut...
For now I'm employed through an agency, so I'd imagine if I get taken on as permanent staff, then some sort of pay-rise will follow. We shall see. Other good point is that it takes about 15 minutes drive door to door, so I'll not be on the road lots.

Hooray for me... er, sort of :roll: ;)

[Blacklight]

It's a sign of the times. The high up's make bonus after bonus for showing profit while at the same time, laying off hundreds of workers.:nope:

There should be a law on the books that if a company has to lay off workers or cut their benefits, the CEO's and such don't get their big bonuses and raises.

[VipertheSniper]

shopfitting company

I had to read that twice until I got that you didn't land a job at a shopLIFTING company. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Jimbuna]

of an old thread as an update:

I start a new job on the 11th of February as a setting out draughtsman for a shopfitting company. I went for the interview this morning and the job was mine in the afternoon.
I'm kind of happy I got a job now, but at the same time I've enjoyed immensely living off my redundancy money and not having to go to work- I've got loads of things done during this time that I'm sure I wouldn't have had time for otherwise.

The salary is good (well, 'ok' when you take into account the number of hours I'll be working) at 18k for monday - friday 8am till 5:30pm and 3:30pm on a friday. Half hour for lunch. So I guess that comes to about 7 or 8 quid per hour. Then there's the tax-mans cut...
For now I'm employed through an agency, so I'd imagine if I get taken on as permanent staff, then some sort of pay-rise will follow. We shall see. Other good point is that it takes about 15 minutes drive door to door, so I'll not be on the road lots.

Hooray for me... er, sort of :roll: ;)

Pleased to hear about your good fortune http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

If your getting 18k, that means the agency is getting at least 50% more. You might want to consider approaching the company directly (very discreetly) once you have proven your worth. ;)

[The Munster]

We have an Agency worker on £5.51 an hour; the Agency are charging the 'Company' £12.50 an hour for his services.

[Jimbuna]

We have an Agency worker on £5.51 an hour; the Agency are charging the 'Company' £12.50 an hour for his services.

If they're 21 or over, they are braking the law with regards to the National Minimum wage :hmm:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it seems the good news is spreading itself around. Congratulations!:sunny:

[Stealth Hunter]

shopfitting company

I had to read that twice until I got that you didn't land a job at a shopLIFTING company. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Oddly enough, I had to do the same thing. I thought, "Jesus, Jumpy! Shoplifting is living pretty dang- wait a minute."