Really Cross

[Glammanana]

I have been listening to the news about Sainsbury's & Asda merger on the news this morning and the interview with a chap called Michael Coupe who has stated that there will be no job loses.
Why then has 70% of the workforce (mainly night and section managers) at a large Sainsburys not far from me been made redundant with 3 months notice finishing in June and one of these is my eldest boy.
He has worked for them for a very long time and was offered his new post as a form of promotion 18mths ago,he now has to find a new job when he is 3 yrs into a house purchase and their 1st baby due in 3 weeks time,this merger must have been on the cards when redundancy was given in March surely.

[Enfys]

That’s shocking Glam! I’d be cross too. Just been reading about this, how can they say there won’t be job losses? At our big local retail park there is a big Sainsburys and Asda, surely they can’t keep both of them up and running so obviously there will be jobs lost. I don’t think these huge companies should be allowed to do this, creating an even bigger giant.

[Daisy]

Glamm - I haven't caught up with this news, yet, but I seem to remember Sainsbury's and Argos having some kind of tie-up a few months ago (don't know the details) but I wonder if the current redundancy notices are related to that. Are these notices a kind of 'warning' of possible redundancies. I've got it in the back of my mind that giving notice of redundancy saves them a lot of money even though they may not actually go through with all of them. If so, it's a wicked way to treat people, but it's the law that needs changing. As I say, I'm not sure, but I'll try and find out.

Your poor DS must be feeling gutted though, and definitely not what you want to be coping with 3 weeks before your first baby.

[Oma]

Im surprised the Monopoly commission allowed this to go ahead ,
We have Asda & Sainsbury's in our shopping centre also Argos inside Sainsbury's , they closed Argos and moved it within Sainsbury's a few month ago

Again its the staff that suffer when these companies become so greedy ,

What we are surprised with is we have Two Aldi's within minutes of each other , We have the old store on our retail and just up the road a big new one ,
They keeping the old one open as its still very popular and making money . You would think they would close one wouldn't you .

[Glammanana]

Just heard that the Stores will keep their individual names and that prices in Sainsburys should be reduced by 10% when merged,who are they kidding these CEOs must think we are all mad.
My boy has said all at shop manager level are expecting redundancy notice and their jobs will be replaced with part time workers (4hr shifts) recruited from the shop floor and till areas,he has mortgage protection but it is going to be very hard for him to find a job which pays as well and gives him some peace of mind.His wife is now on maternity leave but because she started a new job middle of last year she does not receive the full amount she would have received from the job she left,hind sight is a wonderful thing don't you think.

[Plantaholic]

Glamm, what a worry for your DS, I heard this on the news. I hope things work out better for him than he imagines.

[Mimi]

Heard this on the news and a so called 'expert ' said it will almost certainty mean job losses in the warehouse and office staff. He seems to think that Sainsbury's and Asda shoppers are different types of shoppers so the shops should be safe .
To quote my mum ....."We'll see "

[Daisy]

Glamm, I'm sorry I can't find anything that might help at the moment. There's lots of information online about companies being taken over and TUPE agreements relating to employees' contracts when a company is taken over, but this seems to be a merger, with both companies keeping their identities (at least for now!) so I don't know what the employment legalities are.

The other thing I'd thought about is if your DS finds a new job before the end of his redundancy notice he needs to check carefully - it he leaves early he may not get the full redundancy payment.

On the positive side, he's been working at Sainbsurys for a long time, and had promotion. That is a good indicator to a future employer that he knows his job and is reliable.

[Glammanana]

Thanks for your information Daisy my boy has decided to stay until end of redundancy period as he has nearly 12 yrs service with them,what annoys me most is that he gave up the management of a Sainsburys Local Store 18mths ago for this promotion and the person who he trained to take over his old job has not been made redundant whilst I would never wish bad on anyone to loose their job this is MY BOY and his life he has worked so hard to get where he is after he came out of the forces.
My daughters chap works for a MOD based company and he has suggested that with his experience that he applies to Border Security when he has a finishing date DDs chap has worked for them since he retired from forces only thing is it takes him away for most of the week something my boy is not too keen on with a new baby on the scene but at least it may be an option.

[Nanto2girls]

Glamma, sorry to hear your son is being made redundant.
I really hope something else comes along.

[ZIZI]

Glamm, I'm sorry I can't find anything that might help at the moment. There's lots of information online about companies being taken over and TUPE agreements relating to employees' contracts when a company is taken over, but this seems to be a merger, with both companies keeping their identities (at least for now!) so I don't know what the employment legalities are.

The other thing I'd thought about is if your DS finds a new job before the end of his redundancy notice he needs to check carefully - it he leaves early he may not get the full redundancy payment.

On the positive side, he's been working at Sainbsurys for a long time, and had promotion. That is a good indicator to a future employer that he knows his job and is reliable.

The Company has to “consult”, failure to consult means that the employees are able to apply to the courts for compensation. They have consulted and it is up to the company whethe they allow people to go earlier but it will probably impact a payment. As Sainsbury are not going into liquidation or administration they will have to pay redundancy money which is currently up to £509 per week (depending on how much the person earned and also may be more as they are not in government liquidation) and does not attract tax and NI if it is under £20k. They have also, it seems, given notice which limits their liabilities as, in my case, I am waiting for a code to claim payment in lieu of notice which is the same rate as redundancy but whethe you get one week per year or 1.5 weeks per year depends on your age. I think over 42 it is 1.5 weeks per year both for PILON and redundancy. PILON is subject to tax and NI but that does not sound like that will happen in this case.

There are several groups of us going for failure to consult but given there are so many of us the judge has ordered a stop until the company is finally gone and then he will hear all applications at the same time. Goodness knows when that will be.

Glam maybe your son ought to check his house insurance and see whether employment situations are covered on it, sometimes it is sometimes it isn’t. Mine covers it but not for redundancy which is why I joined the group for a no win no fee action. Tell him to check his mortgage protection carefully as when my husband had his knees done we called on our protection insurance which we had paid into for years and got the most paltry amount so we cancelled the policy in the end. Good luck to him, it must be terribly worrying, at least in my position we no longer have a mortgage, we have a full salary comin in from husband and we have no children to worry about.

[Gemini]

What a shame Glamma. No wonder you are upset and annoyed,

[Gemini]

Im surprised the Monopoly commission allowed this to go ahead ,
We have Asda & Sainsbury's in our shopping centre also Argos inside Sainsbury's , they closed Argos and moved it within Sainsbury's a few month ago
.

Oma, Argos, Habitat and something else (I can't remember what as I haven't been to that store for some time) All moved into a big Sainsburys store a few miles from us. I thoght it was very odd, and yes, probably some job losses along with the move.

[Sum1Ls]

Says it all:


‘The CEO of Sainsbury’s Mike Coupe has apologised after he was filmed singing ‘we’re in the money’ after an agreement was reached for his company to merge with supermarket rivals Asda.

Mr Coupe was seen on camera singing and humming the tune while waiting between interviews in a London television studio.

This was an unguarded moment trying to compose myself before a TV interview. It was an unfortunate choice of song, from the musical 42nd Street which I saw last year and I apologise if I have offended anyone.

– THE CEO OF SAINSBURY’S MIKE COUPE’