Hi, my name is Kelmot75! Is it better to accept redundancy or finish work on medical reasonings?

Kelmot75

I work in customer service as a cashier on a seated,belted till.

My manager told us all they need to loose hours and my till will no longer need someone sat at it all the time, so my job is going also another lady is also disabled works the days shifts that I dont work so I was wondering due to my boss saying they will either finish us under "the needs of the buisness" or we will be made redundant with small payment or be finished on medical reasonings ! What does all that mean what one should I go for?

Also the rest of the team won't get away scott free they either have to drop hours , give more availability. And once we are gone they will have to jump on and off their jobs to serve customers

Thank you for reading. hopeful for some clarity x

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Kelmot75, welcome to the community.

How long have you been working at your job? If it's more than two years you may be entitled to redundancy pay:

Redundancy: your rights: Statutory redundancy pay - GOV.UK

Could you ask your boss what the terms would be for each option and what you could expect from each?

If you're not sure on your rights you could try contacting ACAS, they can often be very helpful for work-related things:

Acas | Making working life better for everyone in Britain

Hope you can get some clarity soon.

MW123

@Kelmot75

It’s not normal for an employer to give you several options for leaving your job, as they should follow a proper process. Employers often use the term "needs of the business" because it's vague and flexible, which can help them avoid being too specific about the real reason for ending your employment. It can cover a wide range of situations such as cutting costs, restructuring, or performance issues, without clearly calling it redundancy or dismissal.

If your role is genuinely no longer needed, it should be treated as redundancy, which comes with certain rights like proper notice and a redundancy payment, depending on your length of service.

Medical dismissal is different and should only happen after your employer has tried all reasonable adjustments to help you stay in work. It usually does not include the same financial payout as redundancy, as there is no legal requirement for a redundancy payment unless your contract specifically includes it. You would still be entitled to notice pay and holiday pay, but the overall compensation is often less.

If your employer has not properly looked at adjustments for your health and is pushing for medical dismissal instead, that could be unfair. It is a good idea to speak to ACAS, or your union rep, to make sure your rights are protected.