I have surprisingly been told by my employer on the cusp of my return to work that they don't believe my job exists anymore. I have been off for 6 months and during this time they have restructured slightly and made new roles in the team which have taken on my duties.
When I left at end of Jan, I was told there were going to be some changes which had been in the works for a while however they were looking forward to having me back. I then heard nothing for about 5 months and then was requested to have a catch up when they told me they just didn't believe my job existed anymore and could I think of anything?
We then had a second and then third meeting where they said the only role available to me is quite junior, half my salary and used to report to me. While it makes me sad that I won't be returning, what is really getting me riled up is the lack of following proper process on their side (i.e. no consultation during their decision making process) as well as a feeling that they used my maternity leave to restructure and they were planning this for quite some time.
They have offered me a redundancy package which is just a little above entitlement and I want to negotiate for more. I was thinking asking for 6 month salary including superannuation, and would back this up by saying they would have known this redundancy would need to take place over 6 months ago which is lost time to me. I was also planning on saying that it would take me at least 6 months to find work.
I don't know if this is asking for too much or too little versus what I potentially could be awarded if I won an unfair dismissal claim. How would a lawyer go about negotiating something like this? Do I have a good/ strong case?
Regarding Fair Work Australia - how long does a claim take? What does it cost? Likelihood that I would win? Could I expect to get a considerably more money via fair work or by negotiating directly?
What are the exact consultation requirements that they should have followed?
Any other options?
When I left at end of Jan, I was told there were going to be some changes which had been in the works for a while however they were looking forward to having me back. I then heard nothing for about 5 months and then was requested to have a catch up when they told me they just didn't believe my job existed anymore and could I think of anything?
We then had a second and then third meeting where they said the only role available to me is quite junior, half my salary and used to report to me. While it makes me sad that I won't be returning, what is really getting me riled up is the lack of following proper process on their side (i.e. no consultation during their decision making process) as well as a feeling that they used my maternity leave to restructure and they were planning this for quite some time.
They have offered me a redundancy package which is just a little above entitlement and I want to negotiate for more. I was thinking asking for 6 month salary including superannuation, and would back this up by saying they would have known this redundancy would need to take place over 6 months ago which is lost time to me. I was also planning on saying that it would take me at least 6 months to find work.
I don't know if this is asking for too much or too little versus what I potentially could be awarded if I won an unfair dismissal claim. How would a lawyer go about negotiating something like this? Do I have a good/ strong case?
Regarding Fair Work Australia - how long does a claim take? What does it cost? Likelihood that I would win? Could I expect to get a considerably more money via fair work or by negotiating directly?
What are the exact consultation requirements that they should have followed?
Any other options?