Continuous employment for the purposes of calculating a redundancy payment may be affected by the provisions of the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government etc) (Modification) Order (RMO). The RMO designates all those organisations covered by the order as a ‘single employer’ for redundancy pay purposes where service is continuous between the relevant organisations. It includes almost every organisation once under local authority control i.e. former polytechnics and some higher education colleges.
The significance of the RMO is only in relation to redundancy pay and has no significance for other terms and conditions of employment governed by continuity of employment. The following is where the redundancy modification order applies:
- If an individual has continuous employment from a previous employer listed in the RMO then that employment must be taken into consideration when assessing the entitlement to a redundancy payment (two years continuous employment) and for calculating the amount of the payment.
- If an employee who is under notice of redundancy receives an offer of a job from another RMO employer (e.g. another post 92 HEI, an FE College or local authority) before the termination of their employment and takes it up within 4 weeks of the end of the old employment, there will be no dismissal for redundancy payment purposes, no redundancy payment and continuity of employment will be preserved in the new job.
- If the employee takes a redundancy payment and commences work for the next RMO employer after four weeks have elapsed then continuous service will be broken.
- It is advisable, before making the redundancy payment, to ask the employee if they have been offered another job with a RMO body and, if so, whether s/he intends to take it up within 4 weeks of finishing his or her current job.
A full list of bodies covered by the Order is available to download: Redundancy Modification Order bodies.