# PA: made redundant and boss's wife is now doing my job: What to do?



## irish girl (10 Feb 2009)

I have been made redundant and I have now heard that my ex boss is employing his wife to do my job. I was his PA..What can I do??


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## artful dodge (12 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant- checklist*

Irish girl. Strictly speaking then your postion was not redundant. Without knowing the facts of your case it sounds like an unfair dismissal by reason of unfair selection for redundancy.

Also, to add to the checklists:
-Make sure you are in receipt of the correct notice period/payment in lieu of notice.
-Someone above mentioned the rp1 form. This however is now replaced by the RP50 form which is an important document so make sure you get it.
-Get a proper breakdown of any annual leave you may have accrued, and due to be paid.
-Taxation Issues, make sure you get all this clarified: Statutory amounts=tax free. Ex-Gratia amounts are taxable subject to 3 reliefs. Basic Exemption, Increased Exemption, SCSB exemption, and potentially top slicing relief.
- Your p45.
- Confirm any benefits that may extend beyond termination - life assurance, etc.
- Ask their policy as regards letters of reference for future employment.
- Request outplacement assistance. No harm in asking.
- Read as much as possible about the process, double check all your employers figures - they can and often do make mistakes.

Oh, and best of luck Carpenter.


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## irish girl (20 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant- checklist*

She may be paid cash instead of going through the books??? what do u think i should do??


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## Welfarite (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*

I've moved these posts from another thread as it is an interesting topic on it's own...


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## WaterSprite (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant- checklist*



irish girl said:


> She may be paid cash instead of going through the books??? what do u think i should do??



Whether she's paid cash or not is not relevant to the question of whether there was a real redundancy.

On the face of it, it does look like an unfair dismissal - an employer can't simply say that a position is redundant and then hire someone into the same position (regardless of how, or how much, they are paid) without risking that the original "redundancy" is actually an (unfair) dismissal.  How long were you working at the company?  You need to be there longer than a year to avail of the Unfair Dismissals legislation.


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## Cayne (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*

Has the OP had problems with her job? Maybe the bosses wife can do the job better?


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## WaterSprite (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*



Cayne said:


> Has the OP had problems with her job? Maybe the bosses wife can do the job better?



That's neither here nor there unless the employer told OP about any  problems and gave her a chance to improve (assuming the UDA is applicable).  Similarly, it's neither here nor there if OP was told she was redundant when she clearly isn't.


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## iggy (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*

What if the business is in financial trouble and the boss`s wife is helping out without pay in an effort to save the business?


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## mathepac (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant- checklist*



artful dodge said:


> ... Strictly speaking then your postion was not redundant. ...


This is key. The position / post is deemed redundant as the work is no longer required, as a consequence the person fulfilling the role has no job.


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## Vinnie_cork (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*



iggy said:


> What if the business is in financial trouble and the boss`s wife is helping out without pay in an effort to save the business?


 
I agree..... If this is the case then I could understand why his wife is now working in your old role. 

How was the business doing ? is this the reason you were left go?


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## WaterSprite (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*



Vinnie_cork said:


> I agree..... If this is the case then I could understand why his wife is now working in your old role.
> 
> How was the business doing ? is this the reason you were left go?



Really it is not OP's problem/business whether the wife is working for little or no pay.  I'm not sure whether replacing an employee with a "volunteer" will invalidate a redundancy or not but we shouldn't speculate about any of that.  If it turns out to be the case that the wife is merely volunteering, then that may paint things in a different light from an employment law perspective.

We have no evidence to suggest that someone is working for nothing.  What we do have evidence of is that OP was made redundant and the position is clearly not redundant because the position is now filled by someone else.  That's the starting point for any discussion.

Let's ignore the fact that OP has been replaced by the boss's wife.  One cannot simply make an employee redundant and replace them with someone else for lower pay. Well, you can do whatever you want in practice, but that leaves the employer open to a UDA claim.

We're all aware of the difficulties facing private enterprise at the moment, but that cannot be an excuse to flout employment law.  The company has some explaining to do; it should not be up to OP to come up with excuses as to why the company has acted in this manner.

Bear in mind that, if business is bad, it is always open to a company to make a position redundant - employment law doesn't argue with that.  What is a problem is if they then turn around and hire someone for the same role.

OP, you should probably consult with an employment solicitor but if you don't want/can't afford to, I'd write to your employer asking for more background on your redundancy and questioning why someone has been hired in that same role.  I'd give them a reasonable time limit to reply and work from there.


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## gillarosa (23 Feb 2009)

*Re: Made redundant and boss's wife doing my job: What to do?*

Hi IG, if the person is being paid through the normal payroll you may have a case, but if you think it may be on a cash basis or as some posters have suggested she is not receiving any pay at all it may be nearly impossible.
You need to weigh up the pros and cons yourself in regard to whether you feel you have an actual proveable case and to access if its worth it on a personal basis, for example if you may need this Employer for future references and if you can expend the time and energy on fighting the case, it may take a long time before you would get an appointment with the LC Rights Commissioner. I know of one group of people waiting since November to have their case heard. If they made you redundant in order to give a job to another person its illegal and if you were paid redundancy your former Employer would have been entitled to and claimed a portion of your Redundancy payment from Revenue which is fraud.


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