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I'm Being Merged!

10:49 / 14.05.03

Hot on the heels of Runce and the Haus of Correption, it looks like redundancy is round the corner for me. Well, possibly.
My department is merging with our counterpart at another company and although many redundancies are anticipated, there is no voluntary option, and 'efforts will be made to find alternative employment in other parts of the company for those who do not remain in the merged department'.

Now, for me, redundancy is not unappealing, and quite possibly preferable to a job in an area I'm not interested in. So my question is this: How much does one's role have to change before it is deemed to be a 'new' job, with the old one being 'redundant'? I assume there must be laws or at least guidelines about this, otherwise I gather employers would avoid expensive pay-outs by making unneeded employees clean windows/wash coal/work in finance/whatever until they resigned out of abject misery.
It's all a bit worrying. Anyone know the score?

pointless and uncalled for

10:53 / 14.05.03

Not really, but I hear the CAB are handy with employment issues.

I too am out of a job as of Friday. I'd lament my imminent unemployment but I'm already being put forward for a position to begin Monday and at a higher rate of pay.

Does my bum look smug in this?

10:15 / 15.05.03

I was in a very similar situation a few years ago. The site that I worked on was closing down, and efforts were made to relocate staff to other sites run by the same company. I really didn't like the look of either of the two sites offered and hoped to be made redundant. I managed to avoid the first site by being too slow to apply for it and contriving through sickness, leave etc never to be around for site visits. So when all positions were filled there, I was sent for an interview to the second site. I managed to avoid being relocated there by being abysmal in the interview. I'd like to say that this was a cunning ploy on my part, but I really was rubbish - I genuinely couldn't answer any of their questions, and gave blank looks when I should have been nodding and giving them the insider's "ah, yes, I know all about that" face. I was also honest about the fact that I hated the idea of travelling to London to do 12 hour shifts and thought their bizarre shift pattern was nuts.

So anyway, the upshot was that I was made redundant as a result of either dragging my feet or being unsuitable for the alternative positions. If you decide to adopt this or a similar strategy, you'll probably need to act useless, but hopefully it will have the same effect.

Btw, I gained a new respect for my soon to be ex-boss when he turned up at my flat to hand me my redundancy papers, he seemed genuinely upset that it had 'come to this'.

12:01 / 15.05.03

Thanks Saveloy and, to a lesser extent, Potus.
The acting stupid approach had occurred to me, for it is a part I was born to play, but it would feel weird for a start, and I wonder what disincentives are available to an employer to stop people doing just that. I mean, the idea of turning up to an interview drunk and insulting holds a certain appeal, but at the same time I wonder if this can be construed as gross unprofessionalism, or something else which they could possibly sack me (from my current job) for.

As it turns out I am up against 7 or 8 other well-qualified people for both of the new jobs I've been put forward for, so I think that treating the interview like any other will be enough to secure redundancy. Although now I wonder whether doing the 'anti-interview' is almost too good an opportunity to pass up. But I wouldn't want to risk serious consequences just for an amusing job-interview anecdote.