Hi everyone
I work for a pretty big company driving a rigid. There are two of us on the rigids and the rest of the fleet are artics.
The boss has had us in today and told us that the company has taken on some more work that was done by another company and they would be bringing in some of their drivers and another 7 rigid vehicles.
There are 9 drivers from the other place to be brought in and me and my mate make 11 drivers for 9 trucks. So there will be a reduction in staff of 2 men. Surely they would have made 2 of the other drivers redundant before they came to us? The company they work for has given up on the particular part of the contract they were doing and we’ve taken it on.
Me and my mate are now in the position of going from a secure steady job to being in the firing line for redundancy. We had a similar situation last year and part of the selection criteria was absence from work.
We’ve both had a bit of hard luck this year and have both had time off with illness - I’ve got a sneaky feeling this might go against us again. They don’t seem to take into account the previous 19 months without losing a minute!!
I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this and wonder what any of you thought about it
From what I’ve been told when you are “points scored” for redundancy, only unauthorized absence can be taken into account. When some of our drivers were laid off last year, Dad was worried as in the previous 2 years he’d been off with pneumonia and a hernia op, though his 30+ years of service mitigated it. Your conduct,accident history,time employed should all be taken into account.
Its harsh from your side, but if they have come over via TUPE then their previous employment record counts, and if comes to redundancies they are on an equal footing with you… sorry
I think that basically when it comes to redundancy they can get rid of whoever they want.
i am in the same boat fella with the cuts in place but i wish you all the luck and just sit and wait like i am
Rikki-UK:
Its harsh from your side, but if they have come over via TUPE then their previous employment record counts, and if comes to redundancies they are on an equal footing with you… sorry
Under transfer of undertakings there is some scope in the initial negotiations,before the buyout takes place,for the company which is taking over the other to take on as many staff from the firm being taken over,or for the firm being taken over to make as many of it’s own staff redundant,to suit the requirements of the new operation.It can’t be right for a loyal workforce in a successful firm to find their jobs at risk in the event of their employers buying out another firm.In addition to that what ever happened to the old last in first out rule which I worked under in most of my years with big employers.It’s the fairest system.I’d also ask the Guvnor how the firm came to transfer 9 drivers to drive 7 trucks.