You’ve undoubtedly noticed that many of the big brands we grew up with are failing, losing tens of thousands of people their jobs.
The traditional High Street is suffering badly, and House of Fraser is the latest big name that has gone into administration. We’ve also lost British Home Stores, Blockbuster and Woolworths relatively recently.
Admittedly, it’s not a completely new trend. Do you remember childhood favourites such as Tammy Girl/Etam, C&A, Comet, Virgin Megastore, MKOne, Kookai and Morgan? All gone, changing the retail landscape forever.
But it’s not just the retail sector that’s affected. Back in January, construction giant Carillion collapsed. Here’s the article we wrote about it at the time: Are you affected by the Carillion collapse?
With Brexit looming, there are fears that many more jobs are at risk.
Britain’s biggest carmaker is Jaguar Land Rover. Speaking in London in September, CEO Ralf Speth said he was unsure whether production would be possible after Britain leaves the EU. If customs checks at Dover lead to motorway snarl-ups, he fears the company won’t be able to build cars here, losing them £60m per day. He added that it’s already thousands of pounds cheaper to manufacture abroad, and JLR is due to open a new plant in Slovakia later this year.
Of course, we still don’t know what the Brexit deal will be, but the uncertainty helps no one.
What this means to you
If your employer goes bust, or decides to close down your workplace, or has to reduce their workforce, your job could be made redundant.
By law, your employer must let you know in advance that redundancies are possible, explain the selection process, and offer alternative employment where possible.
When deciding which individuals to let go, items they take into account may include:
- Attendance records
- Previous conduct and disciplinary history
- Standard of work
- Skills and experience
They are not allowed to select people on the basis of their age, disability, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Also, they can’t pick on someone just because they are pregnant or on maternity leave, a member of a trade union (or not), or based on their contract (part-time or fixed-term).
If your employer doesn’t run the process properly, or you think them choosing you was discriminatory, you may be able to make a claim for unfair dismissal.
The starting point is to notify ACAS. They will offer to settle the case through Early Conciliation – but you don’t have to agree to this, and neither does your employer.
If that doesn’t work, the next step is to take your employer to the employment tribunal. If you are in Northern Ireland, you can go straight to the Tribunal without Early Conciliation.
We can help at every step of the way.
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