Made Redundant While on Annual Leave

ozbargainy on 14/12/2022 - 07:56
Last edited 14/12/2022 - 09:08

Stuck on the following position and need some sort of 2nd opinion from the OZB educated audience 😀

Submitted my annual leave form and got it approved by management in Oct. The leave was from late Nov to early Jan. I had accrued leave balance to satisfy that leave. Before leave I had a chat with HR where they stated they will seek redeployment as the work was nearing completion.

On mid Dec while outside Australia, got a call from HR confirming that they have no option of redeployment and have to terminate me immediately from mid Dec. They issued the notice on the same day.

What do you think of that?, is it fair?, just can’t get my head around being terminated while on leave.

Understand there’s no redeployment option but that is the company’s issue not mine. I believe it would be fair to terminate me when my leave ends not before. What do you think??

Contacted FWA but waiting for feedback too.

Edit: Thanks all for useful feedback. It’s a $hit move but doesn’t look like a case for unfair dismissal so I will have to live with it and move forward 🤘

Education & Work

Comments

  • christopher8827 on 14/12/2022 - 17:43
    -1

    Geez - right when Covid-19 hit, a few of my friends were on their annual leave and all of them got made redundant. It just part of the neo-liberalisation of our "permanent" jobs.

  • gengi on 14/12/2022 - 18:03

    How did they give you notice? I believe it has to be in writing.

  • trapper on 14/12/2022 - 18:58
    +5

    Begin made redundant is my favorite way to go - you get that sweet-sweet redundancy payout!

    How many years were you working there? Could be a decent little bonus.

    • ozbargainy on 14/12/2022 - 22:53

      Not long, 1.5yr so payout is circa 6 wks

      • trapper on 15/12/2022 - 02:06
        +4

        6 weeks pay is still an epic bonus

  • mrhugo on 14/12/2022 - 19:11
    +2

    Chat with HR, re: Redeployment.

    The writing is on the wall, redundancy is almost a certainty if you were having these discussions prior to taking AL

    Hope the payout was good. If you land a job with similar pay asap then you may very well be infront.

    Sucks about getting dumped at Christmas.

  • AndyC1 on 14/12/2022 - 19:29

    Before speaking with anyone in the company ring a lawyer who deals with deal with unfair dismissals as it can make a big difference later on if you talk to HR or anyone in the company.

    • utsc on 15/12/2022 - 23:43
      -1

      Smart Advice

  • hasher22 on 14/12/2022 - 21:55

    Off topic: If someone is made redundant but the same role or similar role opened up, is that a case for unfair dismissal?

    • cookie2 on 14/12/2022 - 23:18

      When I looked into it years ago, it was a 6 month period. So if your scenario happened within 6 months you can claim non genuine redundancy and go after the business. I remember keeping watch for 6 months. Same is different to similar though and just because you raise it, doesn't mean you'll win or that it will be worth your time and efforts.

    • happydude on 15/12/2022 - 01:41
      +2

      If your position was not made genuinely redundant then yes. Good luck proving it in most cases. Normally they will rejig the job description. Or argue a sudden increase in work requiring the position again.

      My advice is if they don't want you, move on. It is rarely worth it. Unfair dismissal payouts aren't that much higher than redundancy. Better off putting the time into finding a new job.

  • maderedundant on 14/12/2022 - 23:55

    Maderedundant

    • pformag on 15/12/2022 - 12:02

      Username checks out

    • djsweet on 15/12/2022 - 14:01

      Member since 2016. 0 Posts, 2 comments. One of them was this… :')

  • Hardlyworkin on 15/12/2022 - 05:58
    +2

    Not fair is an employee who works hard for a company which then shuts but doesn't liquidate. No entitlements paid out including redundancy and leave.

    The company is there to make money at the end of the day. Your job was made redundant and they acted on it. You work for a non small business and have been there less than 2 years. It's the risk we take being employees rather than employers.

    It's a great job market out there as per my recent experiences. Good luck on the job hunt.

  • tabitha731 on 15/12/2022 - 07:14
    +1

    Being made redundant is never fair, esp if U actually enjoy ur job, sadly that's just the way it is. You will see that U will benefit from this redundancy as U keep moving forward with ur career.

  • LoserScott on 15/12/2022 - 08:15
    -2

    Congratulations, they'll find someone better now.

  • BigBirdy on 15/12/2022 - 09:49
    +1

    The company's other option would be to terminate you on your first day back from leave, but by doing it the way they did, you have the option of extending your holiday and staying overseas longer, and/or getting a headstart looking for your next job before exhausting your leave entitlements. This is better for you, it gives you further options.

  • Never Pay RRP on 15/12/2022 - 11:07

    Don't you have to attend a meeting, and sign an agreement in order to be terminated for redundancy? Apologies if that is not the case, but it has been for me.
    Just state that you aren't available to attend that meeting until you return from your holidays (hopefully you haven't already had the meeting and signed)

  • GG57 on 15/12/2022 - 11:20

    The employer could have advised OP of the redundancy the day before they started leave.
    I don't see what is unfair about what happened. There appeared to be a hint of what might happen before they started leave.

  • drfuzzy on 15/12/2022 - 13:30
    +3

    You are picking a fight with an employer over a small amount of money you are probably not entitled to.
    I hope you aren't going to want a reference from them in future.

  • msimpatient on 15/12/2022 - 15:50

    I haven't read all comments sorry, but what is your notice period?

    If they made you redundant immediately they should pay out your notice period, annual leave not yet taken plus the additional entitlement for being made redundant.

    Do you have an enterprise agreement or do you go by NES?

    • msimpatient on 15/12/2022 - 15:59

      Under NES you're entitled to at least 2 weeks at full pay and 4 weeks at base pay rate ie no entitlements.

      And all annual leave and identifiable entitlements are to be paid out.

      Also, the redundancy notice must still be in writing.

      • GG57 on 15/12/2022 - 16:31

        OP stated "They issued the notice on the same day."
        OP doesn't say that they aren't being paid their full entitlements.

        • msimpatient on 15/12/2022 - 20:54

          It was hard to work out what the OPs actual issue was.

          I thought they were saying the employer was using the annual leave time to fulfil the notice period. Which they probably could have done to be fair.

  • 2esc on 15/12/2022 - 18:09

    I personally would like to know straight away that way i can start looking for another job straight away.

    I would also be able to curb spending straight away.

    It may not be fair but its legal.

  • Worf on 15/12/2022 - 18:27

    Did you get a redundancy package, e.g., being paid for an additional period (but not actually having to work) due to the redundancy (duration of paid leave dependent on duration of employment) in addition to any owing annual leave, long service leave, etc?

  • cameldownunder on 15/12/2022 - 20:46
    +4

    Why the F ….. do you pick up a Phone Call from HR when you are on holidays ?

  • utsc on 15/12/2022 - 23:44

    You might be entitled to a redundancy package so talk to an employment law expert

  • us3rnam3tak3n on 16/12/2022 - 01:43

    I've worked the past twenty odd years as a contractor in WA mining with no paid leave or sick days and a notice period of 1-5 days. These concepts seem a little abstract. Are staff roles the norm in other industries? I guess OP is lucky that the timing aligns with an employment boom (depending on the industry).

  • porsche26c on 16/12/2022 - 04:43

    I bet there will be a million women that will say it happened in their maternity leave. Happened to my wife and about to 3 other ladies I know. It's a (profanity) move and unfortunately you cannot do anything. Just negotiate a good package and move on.

  • alxr0101 on 16/12/2022 - 09:04
    +1

    Why is it "unfair"?
    Would it also be unfair to wait for your return from leave to then terminate you?

    It's not a job for life (I know ..so "unfair").

    New job, new opportunities.

  • AlphaSquid1604 on 16/12/2022 - 10:30
    +2

    This just seems petty by the OP. Plenty of others going through this process as well. Enjoy time off and move on. There is no 'fair' in this game and thats why company loyalty means jack all.

    On a side note, usually there is a 'consultation' process required and they run through the options. Sounds like they basically had that conversation with you when they mentioned looking to redeploy and you might have not understood the important nature of that meeting.

  • tryingtohelp on 16/12/2022 - 10:42

    It’s good that you didn’t see it coming and came as a surprise.
    I’ve recently been through this and it is too hard to carry on when you see it coming :(

  • Wasabi Ninja on 16/12/2022 - 11:21

    Nothing like taking leave for a company to realise they don’t need you. Move on to the next job and live the process all over again.

  • iknowtj on 16/12/2022 - 12:15

    They have done you a favour - imagine coming back, then getting redundant. At least you now know what your planning into 2023 looks like.

  • scrone on 16/12/2022 - 15:29
    +1

    There's nothing to fight. If you try you'll waste time, money and reputation.

    Grow up and move on. Be thankful the job market is still favourable.

  • wtfnodeal on 16/12/2022 - 15:47
    +1

    Yeah sounds like the OP’s employer had moved the termination/redundancy forward to save super on annual leaves, public holiday leaves and leave accrued on annual leave and public holiday leave. You do earn annual leave while you are on ‘paid’ annual leave and public holiday leave. But look at the bright side, you get redundancy payment given you were only employed for 1.5 years.

  • plmko on 16/12/2022 - 21:08
    +1

    HR played OP like a fiddle. There was never an opportunity for deployment they've already decided. The conversation for redeployment was just just to fulfill the requirement to exhaust all efforts of finding an opportunity per the FWA rules.

    As the conversation had already started that is why redundancy doesn't need a meeting or outright consent. Documentation has been made and it's quasi fulfilled.

    That's my speculation on this.

  • serpserpserp on 16/12/2022 - 21:17

    I had a similar situation once but I was on Pat leave. I chose not to go into redeployment. I think my work let me serve out my Pat leave as it would be a bad look to fire someone when they are off caring for a baby

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