Redundnacy due to reduced funding from government / vol. sector.

[SEAN1977]

I work in the voluntary sector in an organisation which is funded by a goverment department.

Funding has been cut and I have been asked to take a 20 percent paycut as thats what they can now afford to pay for my position.

If i refuse they would have to let me go as they do not have money for my wages but they would be able to then advertise for someone else to do the job at the rate they can afford.

Would I get redundancy as:
a) I have turned down the reduced wages

b) the position has not ceased to exist - its just the wages have had toI be lowered for it.

Thanks!

 

[annet]

I'd be very careful about this one. Firstly, can you be totally sure that the funding for the agreed post has been reduced by the funding agency? Or does the community organisation want to save a bit of money for their kitty - at your expense? If they want you to take a 20% reduction in pay - are you in temporary or permanent contract, do you have a valid and up-to-date contract, is there a clause in the contract saying that the terms in this employment contract can be re-negotiated. I'd ask them whether they want you to take a corolarly reduction in hours - days of work. If you refuse the paycut and leave work without good cause, any application for JB could then be suspended for 9 weeks. Is the company prepared to reduce your working week - once you work more than 3 days this would entitle you to claim JB for the day's that you are not working. If you are in a union - I'd contact the union. Also, the National Employment Rights Authority might be able to help in respect to clarifying issues around redundancy.

 

[Joanne1]

Just wondering how much redundancy are we talking about here? How long have you been in this job?

Although it might be quite disheartening doing the same job for 20% less pay consider how hard it is to find a job at the moment and you could find yourself out of work for quite a while.. Redundancy money could be long gone..