Employment Law

[Darrell O'Neill]

Ok, here's my rant.....

My wife works in a local picture framing factory both in the offices and as the onlyone trained for screen printing.

Last night, 7-10 days after telling her employers she was expecting twins and would be requiring maternity leave, she gets a phone call saying she was to be made redundant with immediate effect    

It is known the company is suffering from poor sales and approx 6 months ago there was a round of 6 redundancies where she was told that she was too important to the company to be lost....  

As it turns out there has been at least 2 other people made redundant, but from the factory floor.

It just seems that now she is intitled to maternity pay, pay for anti-natal appointments, 'Creche' places and a return to her job after her leave, they decide to let her go       barstewards    

Im guessing that as they've made others redundant proving they have chosen her because of her 'liability' would be out of the question, but i just cant help wondering if a visit to the solicitors would be in order?

OK, rant over..... with all the pressures/worries of the pregancy, tests etc, this is the last thing we needed, and who's gonna employ a woman 3 months before she requires maternity leave....

[perksy]

b*******  

Guessing She isn't a member of a Union  

If not, a phone call or a visit to the Local Citizens advice bureau would be a good start

Also worth having a look on Google

Don't give up without a fight on this...

[Matt Seabrook]

If not, a phone call or a visit to the Local Citizens advice bureau would be a good start

Second that it’s free and should be able to help.

AFAIK the company can’t employ another person to do what Jane is doing for six months or they could in a lot of trouble for unfair dismissal. That said CAB should be able to help.

[peterg]

Sorry to hear about this Darren, as above contact your local CAB as they'll have names of solicitors who specialise in employment law - you (she) needs to take legal advice before accepting the redundancy payment anyway as it's compulsory (AFAIK it certainly was 4 years ago when I was made redundant)  but her employer should be liable for the cost of a consultation    again the CAB will advise you  

[acwchester]

Let me know your nearest large town and I'll try to get you a number and name of a local specialist solicitor. I'm a solicitor but a long time since I did any employment law. Best of luck with it.

[Darrell O'Neill]

Thanks for all your support....

Probably speak to CAB, but how can we really prove why she was chosen to be made redundant...

[Boney]

Hiya,

maybe worth a look on acas

http://www.acas.org.uk/

might be useful

Boney

[peterg]

You cannot 'prove' it unless a director/manager writes it down and that's never going to happen    what you can do is talk to a solicitor and get them to check that what they have done is legal and fair (not in your view maybe but in the view of the law)

I doubt you'll be able to get her reinstated but what you might be able to do is claim for additional compensation in the light of her condition making it nigh on impossible to get a job before the birth of the twins a lawyer should be able to advise you on what the next step is....good luck!

[Liam]

You will need to show that she was unfairly selected for redundancy and, if that was because of her condition, a breach of discimination legislation may have occured which is a serious (and costly for the employer)  issue. As others have said, take advice first.

[Vinny's Westie]

Before making anyone redundant you must give notice that their job is 'at risk'.  If this is not done then it becomes very hard for the employer to justify their actions.  I have given notice last Thursday to an employee their job is at risk and the meeting was held on Tuesday this week, that is the shortest amount that I can safely use.

I would ring the employment tribunal first and fill in the unfairly dismissed form ET1, that way the employer gets all the grief of filling in the forms and explaining the situation all at their cost.  Trust me, I know because that is what I am just going through.

Final thought, how long has your wife worked there, redundancy payments only applicable after 2 years but the system must be followed for all employee's regardless of length of service

[Darrell O'Neill]

ACWchester.

You have mail.

Thankyou