Thousands of workers have already been made redundant this year and thousands more will be worried about the security of their jobs. Unemployment is rocketing as the economy is set to slides deeper into recession. So, what should you do if you’ve been given the bad news and your boss can no longer keep you on the pay roll? Collette Walsh gives her essential guide to coping with redundancy...

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Community

I have been made redundant twice in the past 6 months and 3 times in the past 5 years. I have worked in both public and private sectors where this has happened so no one is safe. My recent redundancy seems to be directly related to Mr Browns cut on IT spending on the NHS in November. I was an IT Manager in a clinical software company. They were unhelpful when they cut my position as they have lied about why they were cutting the role and have refused to give me a letter of redundancy which is required for redundancy protection policys. This I believe is due to the contracted agreement with the NHS which they will have to disclose any redundancys as this could become a matter of clinical risk. This is extreemley unfair and irasponcible. I have spoken to the finance company but without the redundancy notice they can not action my cover.

Also I am a home owner but due to the salary I have earnt since April I am only entitled to Jobseekers contribution based allowence. My wife is also just starting her maternity leave so she is still earning from her 16 hour a week job. I have been told many conflicting bits of information which is not helpful by the Jobcentre plus departments. I was told the new morgage payments policy the goverment brought in on the 5th of January would apply to me from the date I was made redundant but this was incorrect as this only applies to people on income based. As I earnt with my wife a sum over £17k this financial year the goverment deem this as enough to live on even when the money has been spent running the house. I am currently taking in around £750 per month with my wifes maternity and my job seekers allowence and also my child tax/benifits but our out goings even once we cut back to the minimum is £1200. The goverment do not help people like me.

Another issue is the jobs I have been interviewed for were cut either before the interview or after but I was not informed and spent time and money traveling to positions which didnt even exist.

Bottom line is the new generation unemployed are not accounted for within the current benifit structure and Brown has done nothing for us who have payed into the system. Instead it appears the money is given to people coming into the country or spongers who can't be bothered to work. This was evident when I attended the job centre.

As I understand it, the statutory redundancy payment cap increased from £330 to £350 from yesterday.

See

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1079123792

amongst other places.

All this seems fine but what about the bosses who have no money to pay you redundancy? OK so you my get help from the government, which takes months, but you cannot claim lieu of notice from the government. Is there any way you can make your company insolvent. And if so how much would it cost. My husband has been made redundant and he'll walk out of his workplace with nothing. Because we were careful for years we have a few savings so once the 13 weeks job seekers money comes to an end we have to use our savings to live. I'm furious. It makes me wish we'd bought the nice cars, had exotic holidays and spent the lot.

The company has 7 directors but only a total of 22 employees. The company has been performing poorly which is why they are cutting positions. I was doing my job well as far as the directors were telling me but due to their poor managment prior to me starting they have had cash flow issues due to the poor quality service they provide. I had started to implement processes to improve the perception which they also were pleased about. The company do not owe me any redundancy money but they should still give me a notice in writing of redundancy for any protection policies I have. They refuse to do this so it make my life even more difficult. I have also been carefull with my money and have savings which are just under the threshold and have been told all my family will get is the £60.50 per week. This is unfaire as I have had no break in employment in my 14 years career. Others who have never worked or refuse to work get upto £250 per week and can still earn money if they work under 16 hours a week. Where is the justice in that. I have put services in place which have made a difference to the public but this is the thanks get.

I am frightened I might be in a similar situation. I may be about to lose my job. I have been careful with my money and have a bit saved. I suppose the government would expect me to use up all my savings in order to exist while they pay a fortune to those who have just come to this country or to those who refuse to work. What is the point of saving when you just get penalised for it? If I gave my cash to my children or spent it so that I had not so much saved, does anyone know how that would affect my position re benefits?

From what I recall you can have 16K savings in total. This will include isa current accounts and income from properties. The goverment will take into account the total house hold income so in my case I was the main earner bringing in £28k ish and my wife on £6k ish. With my money no longer this is now £6k plus the job seekers contributin based (£60.50 per week). This is about £400 less than what we need to cover our basics once we have switched to interest only morgage which in its self is a challenge. So to be entitled to Morgage asistance, Sure start maternity grants and healthy food vouchers for example you would need to be on income based. We are not entitled to income based as we as a house hold have earnt over £17k since April (the current financial year). So funds have dropped by 75% but the out goings costs of running the hosue have not reduced so how does the goverment expect us to manage?