Realwomen.co.nz

Well had the meeting and the three part time admin positions are being disestablished, to be replaced with a full time office manager and part time receptionist.

New positions are more in total hours than old ones, so it's not that there is less work to do. more like staff finishing at 3pm to get kids and having holidays off doesn't suit.

More meetings are to follow....and we will need to apply for new positions if interested but they will not necessarily be filled from existing staff..is this a way of getting rid of staff you don't want?

Yep, if they don't want someone they just find a way around it. I was laid off when I was pregnant, so they laid another employee off at the same time saying they were down sizing. It was a project so to be expected, but funny that I went back the following week as a contractor, half the time for the same pay! That was 18 years ago.

Happened to me once too, only it was very, very targetted. Took me a while to come back from it actually, and it was in the end the best ting that ever happened to me as I was in the wrong career anyway. But it is tough.

There's an old saying, ..one door shuts, & another opens.

At the time, one thinks the sky will fall, & yet looking back in hindsight, ..it was/is an opportunity for a better job, than clinging to the old one

Life is full of losses in all forms,...isn't it?.

All the best for the future.

I extend my best wishes too. They say every cloud has a silver lining , and I hope that the lining in this one is quickly revealled to you, and that you will soon be seeing present changes as a blessing in disguise too. I guess this sort of thing is happening all around the country as businesses struggle to work out how they are going to survive through these hard times. It is tough out there.

We learnt our jobs were disestablished and two new ones being created. F/T Office Manager and P/T receptionist. We were advised that interviews would be co-ordinated and constructed by the HR consultant employed by our manager, manager would be there and that she would bring her mentor. Not told who, but we could bring our own mentor which we did not. Job descriptions were column listings of duties allocated to each role and interview times that were not confirmed in writing. At the interview I was astounded to walk in and realise that the mentor was facilitating what was a full on interview. He was a HR manager in the past, but only known to us as a casual customer. The boss sat to the side of me out of view and took no place in the process. It threw me, hey, my first interview was over coffee! I did speak up and was offered the chance to have another interview but really felt that it would not be advantageous. I missed out on the job as I did not have the skills required, the job description was not specific, the duties listed were what I had been doing plus a few extra which could easily have been learnt. What are the rules re interviews , job description, mentors? Or does each work place have their own?

So Friday I was made redundant again. Yes I know one door closes an another one opens., but there is like that grieving process to go through.

So sorry to hear this She-stitches. It does hurt. Do take a little time to get over it, but only just a little. Companies do not have to have mentors and they did give you the opportunity to have a support person. Basically as long as you are given notice, time to come up with ideas, informed along the way, and any employment agreement is honoured, then they can do this.
But after you have taken just a little time to lick your wounds, then please do get up and go out searching. Let everyone you know, know aobut your job search in case they hear of something. I have known a lot of people who have been laid off / been sacked / made redundant/ contract ended / can't stand the job any more and leaves - all of those. In virtually every case, the person has ended up happier in their next job. So good luck - you may have to think a bit differently about what kind of job will suit you. And one more thing. You may not be eligible to an unemployment benefit (eg have a spouse), but Work & Income have Work Brokers whose job is to help people find jobs. You could phone and ask for an appointment with one in your area. So just an idea. Good luck.

I personally think you have grounds for a personal grievance claim as it doesn't sound as if they have followed due process. I had a very similar thing happened a few years ago and took a personal grievance along with another employee who was chucked out at the same time and we won! It couldn't hurt to talk to some one but up to you. It makes it harder to move on if you have ongoing stuff like this but for me it was worth it because it sent them a clear message that they couldn't treat staff like this.