Redundant from Job for No Reason

My friend has been told through some internal news that they could make him redundant very soon. He is 11 months into the new job and company is growing but they still want to make him redundant. Can my friend give voluntary resignation as it will trigger 4 weeks notice period rather than wait for company to make him redundant in which case they will only provide 1 week notice period?

If he gives the resignation earlier, then can he be made redundant during his resignation notice period also?

Comments

  • +24

    Tell your "friend" to accept the redundancy $$$ and start looking for new job.

    • +7

      There won't be any payment as it is less than 1 year.

      • +17

        If your "friend" resigns, Centrelink may consider any application for assistance as a voluntary resignation, which could result in a couple of months wait before they'll provide your "friend" with any financial assistance. So I would be looking into that before doing anything else.

        • +7

          Yeah, never voluntarily resign from a full time or contracted job, unless you got another job starting tomorrow of course. Employers must think people have rocks in their head if they can compel people to quit. I guess a lot of peopel would be easily pressured into quitting.

        • Yes but it does depend. If someone resigns or quits then it's probably for a variety of reasons. One could very well be bullying, hostile work environment or something similar. If you quit a job due to bullying and harassment then it definitely changes things for Centrelink. However, if you quit a job because it conflicts with when your favourite Twitch live streamer is online then yeah not good.

    • +1

      redundancy after 11 months isn't going to be anything

    • +1

      I think we need to tell OP not to worry about his friend.

      Firstly its none of OP's business
      Secondly OP's friend will no longer be his friend once he is gone.
      Thirdly if OP's friend wanted our advise surely they would ask.
      Fouthly its evident OP has no idea what they are talking about.

      • +5

        the truth is it's not a friend it's OP

        • What really - it was friend, but OP is friend. I'm confused. [Insert Pam, Jim, Dwight identity theft is not a joke gif here]

        • LOL

  • +9

    Employer would love him to resign, saves them money (redundancy payment). Are you sure you haven't got those notice periods upside down?

    • +1

      As per Fair Work, less than 1 year in to the job, you get 1 week notice period and payment.

      • Wrong.

        1 week notice period. No payment.

        • Yes, I meant the payment for doing the last week of work.
          No additional payment.

      • OK, didn't realise you get nothing under 12m service - that's harsh… and sad.

    • Most HR teams I've worked with resignations can adversely affect their bonuses. No redundancy payout under 12 months.

  • +1

    a few things to consider:

    would he be entitled to a redundancy payout? If so why not wait for the payout and search for a job whilst you wait, a resignation will not be entitled to the payout.

    would there be a re-deployment within the company? Does he want to stay?

    Some companies have facilities to ease out the redundancies (ie interview trainings, resume prep etc..) and should give sufficient notice and allow for them to attend interviews.

  • +1

    If he hands in his resignation, why would they want to make him redundant?

    Best to check on redundancy details. If resignation is 4 weeks notice, it will be the same for redundancy. They may choose to pay out the 4 weeks and let him go immediately though

    • If resignation is 4 weeks notice, it will be the same for redundancy

      that's not how it works, like, at all mate

      • +1

        Being made redundant means they have to give you your notice. They could make you work it out or just pay you out

      • +1

        It is how it works. Just imo as an expert with 35 years experience in redundancy prep.

        • If resignation is 4 weeks notice, it will be the same for redundancy.

          Just imo as an expert with 35 years experience in redundancy prep.

          then you should know that this is wrong.

          If the notice period is 4 weeks then that implies they've been working for more than 5 years. OP's friend has been working for less than a year.

          • -1

            @coffeeinmyveins: And guess what. As an expert, I'm not gonna enlighten you to why you're wrong.

    • whether they pay him out or not is all management discretion, usually they won't unless they have big issues with the staff

  • -1

    Do NOT resign as your friend would effectively forfeit their redundancy payment.

    • +1

      Not that they may get one given it's less than 12 months.

  • +6

    I love it when people reply to these threads as if they know anything about how their rights work.

    https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/fact-sheets/…

    The following employees don't get redundancy pay:
    * employees whose period of continuous service with the employer is less than 12 months

    If he gets made redundant then he won't get squat if he's less than one year in.

    The company growing doesn't mean they can't and won't make positions redundant. The definition is literally that the position is not required anymore, not that the company is in dire straits.

    Your "Friend" needs to start looking for a new job.

    • -1

      Guilty of this. Completely skipped over the 11-month-into-the job part ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  • +1

    Resign if you have another job to go to, or if you don't like the job you have. If you do like it, then stick around as long as possible! The only reason to resign early is if you have no other choice.

  • And before the "friend" asks, no the redundancy payment won't put them in the next tax bracket and it will all be taken by the ATO.

    Weirdly CBA have a pretty good article on it: https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/tax/tax-on-redundancy-p…

  • +10

    Resigning before redundancy is a dumb idea. It is exactly what the company wants.

    Firstly, the redundancy might not happen, internal news could be wrong.
    Secondly, it could drag out for a while longer as HR might need more time to finalise the restructuring which then your friend can be eligible for redundancy payout.
    Thirdly, if they make you redundant, i believe your friend might be asked to leave immediately but the company will still have to pay for minimum period (4 weeks typically). Read the contract.

    Dont jump the gun first. Just apply for other jobs now and wait for official news.

    • +1

      The contract says no redundancy payment if less than 1 year into the job.

      • +5

        Just paraphrasing Katster here:
        There's a chance by the time redundancy rolls out (say in a month's time), your friend may be eligible for payout.
        Also how credible is this internal info? Would be dumb to resign if it was fake news, or maybe this is what the employer secretly want then your friend is playing right into their hands.

      • +3

        Unless your friend is casual or part time, when companies fire you, typically the minimum notice period applies.

        Redundancy payment is additional on that and is normally untaxed.

      • +2

        He's so close to 12 months. What if the rumours are wrong and redundancy isn't coming until three months from now?

    • +1

      I got caught once. Was told the date I would be made redundant, was even given time to look for new job. I found a new job and committed to starting after the redunancy date. Then current employer said they need me a little longer. I had to resign to keep my commitment to the new job.
      Turned out the new job sucked and I should have waited for the redundancy.

  • Are you sure your friend won't get a redundancy payment even if not required by law? (ie an enhanced severance package of sorts)

  • +2

    Am I the only one that thinks it's highly unprofessional that this info leaked. Your friend is better off to start looking for a new job. The notice period might be different depending on the contract so could be less than 4 weeks.

  • +1

    let them fire you, start looking for new job

  • +2

    Redundant from Job for No Reason

    There is always a reason…

  • +1

    Your friend hasn't been made redundant yet. How can you know there is no reason…?

  • +1

    Just to be clear - they do not make the individual redundant, they make the position redundant.
    Seems like in this case they are just going to fire the person.

  • +5

    Yes, your "friend" should definitely resign based on hearsay and Chinese whispers.

  • +1

    Why would a resignation have 4 weeks notice and redundancy 1 week. It should both be either 1 week (Fairwork) or both 4 weeks (if contractually specified). Other differences, if your friend resigns they will need to work the notice period, perhaps the 1 week from the employer won't need to be worked. It can also be argued the 1 week is a redundancy payment and tax free.

  • +5

    I would try to drag out the process so he is over the year. Does he have leave owing he could take etc? I wouldn’t do much until he gets a firmer idea though.

    • +2

      Call in sick for a month. At least all the sick leave would be used up.

  • +2

    If someone was made redundant just before they were entitled to any redundancy payment in a growing company I'd make a guess that they'd been given as much chance as possible to learn to do their job well enough to justify their salary, and had failed.

  • +5

    Why would you want to work at a place that doesn't want you, any longer than you have to?

    • +4

      money

    • +1

      People have mortgages and other commitments and so many Aussies are living paycheck to paycheck

  • +4

    Is it normal for the company to make people redundant just before the 12 month is up? If so then the company deserves you frind to do the following:
    1) Wait for redundancy email or letter as verbal mean nothing.
    2) Use all of the sick leave by going to a GP and getting stress leave for the one week notice
    3) Post the GP stress leave doc to HR
    4) Never go back.

    I have seen some friends get shafted by a company that took them over, but as it was in receivership the scum company got them to join as new employees and every one of them was let go for no reason two days before the 12 months.

    • Could be there is a round of redundancies and they are being included as no cost to company.
      Could be there is a round of redundancies and they are included as they have a last in first out method.
      Could be the dude isn't performing and they are faking redundancy or doing a min restructure to get rid of them.
      The first 2 is crap dictated by faceless bean counters overseas, where Australia is just a small percentage of their income they don't care in any way.

      If doing the stress leave thing it will unfortunately ensure their name on the list if there is one.

  • I’m just waiting for the next numnut about redundancy payout, even though OP and others have mentioned numerous times he’s been at the place for less than a year. God I hope I’m wrong.

  • If the redundancy is very "soon", rather than now there is a good chance he will hit the 12 month period before being made redundant and hence gain some entitlements. Him resigning has no affect on him being made redundant (i.e. it doesn't magically protect him). In the meantime search for a job, better to be made redundant than resign without something to walk into.

  • not all businesses are legally required to pay redundancy

  • As many have said above, no redundancy payment for under a year's service. Harsh but just how it is.

    I've been with my company long enough that I'd get over a year's pay if they made me redundant now (confirmed online with employer's redundancy calculator), so this is now a huge factor when considering whether to move on. You could easily get a nice new role somewhere and be restructured out a few months later. I see it as an insurance policy that would allow plenty of time to find something and potentially be pretty profitable.

  • If you quit and give notice, the company can say "No we don't need you to see out your notice. Bye!".

    You also screw over getting access to Centrelink for a while as you quit.

  • Don’t voluntarily resign ever unless you have a better paying job in hand. Meanwhile tell friend to look for other jobs. Good luck

  • +1

    They cant force you to honour a 4 week notice period, unless you were on some contract where they are holding back payment. Eg if there are commision bonusus unpaid then you might forfeit them if you break the 4 weeks notice.
    Generally on a wage you can just abandon the position and nothing happens, besides burning bridges and the employer reporting that in any future references, and becoming ineligible for welfare for a period.

    You can also approach HR now and say you have been hearing rumours. If they lie you will have a case against them if it does happen next month.
    If they say "maybe" then they cant prevent you from securing a new more stable position asap, and will usually be happy for the clean resignation exit.

    They would have to be real jerks to not release you from a 4 week notice on friendly terms if they know they are going to give you one weeks notice next week.
    Just talk to HR and if they say "maybe" then ask them to do the right thing by you and let you have flexi time for job interviews and one weeks notice period.

  • There's always a reason that your are being re-trenched, your just not being told. Once the decision has been made best to leave and get on with it

  • Your mate is not a super star at work. There is always a reason for letting go people. "Redundancy for no reason" is hardly the real reason. If they performing 110% they will be still in the job I reckon. That or not building rapport and getting along with coworkers.

    • Although I agree redundancy for no reason isn't a thing.
      There's always a reason. Performance isn't always the driving factor, they could just performance manage them out of the job if that we're the case. Happens all the time.

      A company I work with has just done a "restructure" making the manager position redundant and opening up a new supervisor position. Hence saving them $30k a year.

      99% same role different title less pay.

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