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Ben Jones
Ben Jones, UK Lawyer
Category: Employment Law
Satisfied Customers: 78235
Experience:  Qualified Employment Solicitor
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Ben, following what we have discussed the other day, I got

Customer Question

Hi Ben, following what we have discussed the other day, I got this from my employer:I mentioned what you have told them concerning notice of 3 months and this is what they have told me:The advice you have received to date makes sense on the basis that we were terminating your position and looking to install a new CFO, however the position has been made redundant and the most appropriate route would therefore be redundancy. Being aware, however, that this would not be a great outcome for you personally I was hoping to avoid this with the proposal outlined earlier this week.You mentioned that you have concerns around the payment conditions, but unfortunately there is no other practical and fair way that we can structure this. If we are unable to pay you, it will mean that company has entered administration as we would have failed to obtain investment. If / when we receive the investment then all accrued debts will then of course be settled as outlined in my email earlier this week.I appreciate you feel the need to seek advice, but we will require a definitive response to the proposal by COB tomorrow please.
Submitted: 15 days ago.
Category: Employment Law
Ben Jones
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 15 days ago.
Hello, I’m Ben, an employment solicitor, and it’s my pleasure to assist you. I may ask for some information first to determine the legal position.
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Expert:  Ben Jones replied 15 days ago.

So from what they are saying, it does not look like they are disputing that you are owed 3 months notice, but that they cannot pay you right now and would need to settle it over  period of time?

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Customer: replied 15 days ago.
Hi Ben, they are also saying what they have said before around redundancy, which is as the position has been made redundant they only need to pay me for a week, unless i take their proposed conditional garden leave which means that i get paid if they get extra funding:
"The advice you have received to date makes sense on the basis that we were terminating your position and looking to install a new CFO, however the position has been made redundant and the most appropriate route would therefore be redundancy."
Customer: replied 15 days ago.
but based on what we discussed last time, i believe that they should be paying me during the 3 months notice as per the contract and having made the position completely redundant doesn't mean that they can only pay me the 1 week statutory redundancy.
Customer: replied 15 days ago.
Hi Ben, do you work today?
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 15 days ago.

Hi yes I am but as this is not our main job, we only help out when we have spare capacity.

Going back to your query, it is absolutely not correct that they only need to pay you for a week if you are made redundant. Redundancy is one of several fair reasons for dismissal that an employer can use. All are treated the same (except for gross misconduct, which attracts no notice pay). Therefore, whether you are being dismissed for redundancy, capability, some other substantial reason, you are due to be paid the greater of the statutory notice period or what is in your contract. In your case it would have to be the 3 months.

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Expert:  Ben Jones replied 15 days ago.

Hopefully, I have answered your query in a way that is simple and easy to understand. If anything remains unclear, I will be more than happy to clarify it for you. In the meantime, thank you once again for using our services.

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Many thanks again Ben.
Would calling the employment contract 'employment agreement' make any changes to employer's responsibilities of the contents of that agreement?
Just one last question, was wondering how much would it cost for you to write me a response to my employer, obviously if we decided to proceed, ill provide a copy of my employment agreement (employment contract) and termination of employment email.
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 14 days ago.

Hello again and thank you for your further queries, which I will be more than happy to answer. Whether you call it employment contract or employment agreement, the rights are still the same. They can’t just call it an agreement and say that it has no contractually binding effect.

As to writing a letter unfortunately that is not a service we can offer as we are just a chat platform and cannot officially represent you (which would be the case if you wanted us to write a letter on your behalf). Sorry

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Thanks Ben, as always vey clear and easy to understand response.
Customer: replied 14 days ago.
I have sent them this, what do you think?Just to clarify again, whilst there is no contractual garden leave clause in my contract, I will remain on garden leave at your request, and I will await XXXX to arrange return of company property. Even though the handover has already been completed, I will still be available to xxxx should she require additional assistance. Please confirm the date which my Garden leave starts.
As I am contractually entitled to 3 months’ notice pay, I expect to be paid on the 25th of each month, as I have bills to pay too. Should the firm fail to pay me on the 25th of the month, then you will be in breach of the contract.
Indeed should I find a job in the meantime, I'll inform you of the start date, and we can calculate my unused holidays at that point to be included with the final salary payment.
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 14 days ago.

Hi yes that is fine for now

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Expert:  Ben Jones replied 13 days ago.

I trust that everything has now been dealt with to your satisfaction and your original question has been resolved. If you have any further queries about it, please do not hesitate to get back to me on here. In the meantime, I wish you all the best.

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