Redundancy advice

[daniel3v6]

Hi all,

new to the forum but looking for some advice. I've just been told one of the my team are going to be made redundant (myself included). We work in the IT department.
There are 5 of us with the same job title but 2 of those are classed as "2nd line" but we all have the same general contract. There's also a team leader and a head of IT (over kill for such a small team)

on top of that 1 of the 3 who could possibly be made redundant is still in probation and has only been with the company about 2 months where as I have been here 3.5 years and my colleague has been here 6 years.

So the questions I have are..
If we all have the same job title surely its the role being made redundant so we should all be included.

If one of the team is only on probation they should be the default option (as harsh as that sounds)

Thank you in advance

 

[Chris Ashdown]

In a redundancy it is the job that is made redundant and not the person

It does seem strange they have not cut back on the cheapest option the new person

Do you all work on the same area or do you and your other team member work on a area that may be ending, by that i mean do the remainers work on project a, b and c whilst you work on project x, y, and z

 

[daniel3v6]

I thought that was the case thank you

That's also what I was thinking, hes very young and inexperienced too and doesn't know the company and systems.

We all work in the same area but the 3 up for redundancy do what they class as 1st line which is desktop fixes (even though this isn't really an accurate description) and the other 2 are classed as 2nd line (network and servers) but as far as job titles and contracts go this was never defined and we all have the same.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[DocsWizard]

The reason for the redundancy is what normally drives the pool and the selection process and there are various approaches to take.

Whether you do the same job is based on salary and responsibilities so if you are all paid the same and do the same work then it could be argued you are in a pool, but if one is the manager then they are probably classed as different as they have responsibility for others. I'd need to see the jobs in more detail to be sure.

If it's pure cost cutting, then often the most expensive roles will go first and the business can try to consolidate under another Director/Manager, however when working out costs the business will also need to consider the cost of the exit itself, how much each person will cost in notice and redundancy pay etc. Long serving senior people can be expensive to dismiss. It depends if they are thinking long term or short term.

If it's about restructure or change of skills then it may be about who has the skills needed for the future organisation. Someone who was only hired 3 months ago might have the right skills that someone with 6 years service doesn't have e.g. experience of specific equipment that can't be learnt overnight, legally required qualifications etc.

A good process will explain the reason for the reduction in roles and give opportunity to ask questions and understand the criteria used for the pool and selection from that pool. Ask lots of questions.

 

[Mr D]

The reason for the redundancy is what normally drives the pool and the selection process and there are various approaches to take.

Whether you do the same job is based on salary and responsibilities so if you are all paid the same and do the same work then it could be argued you are in a pool, but if one is the manager then they are probably classed as different as they have responsibility for others. I'd need to see the jobs in more detail to be sure.

If it's pure cost cutting, then often the most expensive roles will go first and the business can try to consolidate under another Director/Manager, however when working out costs the business will also need to consider the cost of the exit itself, how much each person will cost in notice and redundancy pay etc. Long serving senior people can be expensive to dismiss. It depends if they are thinking long term or short term.

If it's about restructure or change of skills then it may be about who has the skills needed for the future organisation. Someone who was only hired 3 months ago might have the right skills that someone with 6 years service doesn't have e.g. experience of specific equipment that can't be learnt overnight, legally required qualifications etc.

A good process will explain the reason for the reduction in roles and give opportunity to ask questions and understand the criteria used for the pool and selection from that pool. Ask lots of questions.

Several years back my sister's unit had a redundancy plan, having to cut over a dozen posts.
She applied and was turned down - being one of a handful of higher paid staff who had been there 20 years she was too expensive to get rid of.
Most of those who went were there less than 5 years. Still expensive to get rid of but nowhere near the cost of the 20 plus year crowd.

 

[daniel3v6]

Thank you for your responses, I think i'll be making an appointment with CAB for advice too.

I have a feeling I will be the highest paid of the 3, in fact I know I will be as I was brought in because I had 19 years experience. One of the others used to be an apprentice and the new guy has no real experience and came in as a quick replacement for someone who left.

the other 2 guys who have the same job title but are "2nd line" I have no idea what they are on but have been missed out of the cull anyway.