Is anyone able to point me in the right direction as to attaining affordable legal advice?
I have googled free/affordable/inexpensive/cost effective legal advice only to be told by said firms that I would need to book an initial one hour consultation for $300 (give or take 20%). Bearing in mind I am about to join the ranks of the unemployed this is hardly worth pursuing.
Thanks. Will look into it.
Did you enter into an employment agreement when you commenced?
I signed a letter of offer for a salary position.
any termination provision within that letter?
Join a Union
Have taken this into consideration. Thanks.
Joining a union now won't help as the union can't help with issues that were already occurring before the application to join was accepted.
is it a large company vs small? what industry?
Construction, tier 1
this is a storm in a teacup.
you say this is tier 1 company. that means that you work for one of the two giants. you've only been there for 12 month or less, so they won't give a crap about you. truth be told. they wouldn't give a crap even if you worked there for ten years.
start looking for another job and quit when it's ready.
if your letter was 'more or less ignored' then either it was a poorly written letter which did not require a response, or it did not clearly state the matter or restitution that was requested. or the firm couldn't care less about its employees…
<Date>
<Managers Name>
<Managers Position>
<Company Name>
Re: Extension of Redundancy
Dear <Managers Name>,
I refer to your letter given to me on <Date>. I do not give my consent to the extension of redundancy outlined in this letter.
I note that I have previously received a formal notification of redundancy stating a retrenchment date of <Original Date>.
Please confirm that the retrenchment date remains <Original Date>.
Yours sincerely,
<My Name>
Maybe ask FairWork Australia for guidance?
Also when you were made redundant, did you get the sit down meeting with HR and your manager to advise you of the redundancy and did you sign and papers. Generally you sign off on acknowledging the redundancy and acceptance of the payout figure from payroll. If you signed something, which should have your end date, then that's a contract. Shove that in their face, point to the end date and tell them as per mutually agreed, this is the last day you're working. If they try and withhold and pay out, then you can chase that up later.
Clearly the company has no commitment to you, so why should you? Get on with your life and career and don't allow yourself to miss other opportunities because these clowns think they can string you along for as long as they think it is fit.
I have spoken to the FairWork Ombudsman and been advised that this is a contractual matter. They are only interested in ensuring I receive the correct payout and in my case there is no redundancy, so they could not do anything for me. They recommended I seek legal advice.
When I was initially made redundant there was a sit down meeting with my manager, he advised me of the redundancy, gave me a letter formalising the notice, etc. I countersigned the letter acknowledging that I received the letter and that the conversation was held (as it is referenced in the letter, "As per our conversation…"). When they tried to extend my redundancy I was given the letter, I then refused to have the conversation with them and wrote an immediate response (refer to my reply to Logical) making it clear that I did not give consent to the extension.
Firstly, I wouldn't worry about your resume. "I left because I was working for a moron who couldn't manage a project and had no idea when it was going to finish."
However, I love the idea of not letting them get away with it. I had the same thing happened to me. Our company was taken over and we were given a date we'd be made redundant. We were given resources to search for a new job. I found one, and agreed to start the week after I was told I was being make redundant.
The employer then turned around and said they needed me for an extra 4 months. I said sorry, not available, and they said sorry, no redundancy.
I wanted to fight it, but had nothing in writing, so gave up.
Sorry to hear about that Mick. Situations like yours are exactly why I don't want to back down. I appreciate you sharing your story. In my case I don't have a redundancy payment on the line, so the only thing I have to risk is my reputation within the business.
Having said that I don't agree with your first sentence. The industry is a lot smaller than (some) people realise, and references really do matter. The first thing a prospective employer will do after reading my résumé is ring up my previous employers and verify my story. If I say I was made redundant and they say I resigned we're not off to a good start. Likewise I would strongly advise against saying anything negative about a previous employer.
Sorry about your situation. I've been through a redundancy myself, though quick and painless. But I cannot understand your statement
"The reason I am trying to enforce the redundancy is that it looks a lot better on the résumé being made redundant at the end of a project ("committed to the end - didn't jump ship") vs. resigning ("couldn't handle the pressure - resigned when it got difficult"). Also, if I was to resign I would then have to provide my employer notice or they could accuse me of abandoning my employment."
As you stated, you've been with the company less than 12 months, so you might not get a redundancy payment. So I'm just wondering why don't you just look for work elsewhere and put in your resignation notice once you've found one?
You said it won't look good in your resume, but if you state that there was a redundancy in the near future and you decided to move on (because of your less than 12 months employment), then I doubt any employers would give that act as you called "jumped ship", a basis on trust or dependability for you as an employee.
Bottomline, I think you're just putting yourself between a rock and a hard place just because of your mentality of not looking for work elsewhere and resigning.
The only thing that will blemish your employment record is if you make a small thing such as an extension for a notice of redundancy bigger than what you're making it out to be.
I just have to post again. I'm really AMAZED at your way of thinking of what it would mean between either REDUNDANCY("committed to the end - didn't jump ship") and RESIGNING ("couldn't handle the pressure - resigned when it got difficult").
Truly amazed…
I have other work lined up but I haven't been able to formalise it without a confirmed end date.
But I do agree with you. I should have resigned the day after I was made redundant, effectively not giving them the opportunity to extend my redundancy.
And re-reading your last sentence, I totally agree with you.
QLS (QLD Law Society) should advise you of firms that will do $20 for 20 minutes of consultation. This was available a few years ago… hopefully still is.