Law queries

* My employer has issued 25 employees with redundancy notices that do not expire until 31 August. A union member being made redundant has been offered a job with a new employer but has been told that she will need to start by 21 July at the latest. Can she leave early?

Under section 136(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 an employee can give statutory counter-notice to the employer to shorten the length of redundancy notice while still keeping the right to redundancy pay. Your member can do this during her statutory or contractual notice period. Most employers will usually accept this. If they do not wish the employee to go early they can serve a counter notice under section 143(1). This requires the employee to continue to work until the end of her notice. If this were to happen she could go to a tribunal and ask it to rule on whether she should retain the right to all or some of her redundancy pay.

More information: Employment Rights Act 1996; LRD booklet, Redundancy - a trade unionists' guide to the law and best practice