redundancy

[mandimoo]

i am going through redundancy consultation at the mo. at one of my meetings i stated that i would like to be considered for any position available after the restructure and my boss replied "yes, of course". so i know that yesterday, the sales dept had interviews for the jobs available in the sales department. my skills at least match those that are applying. so i have just asked boss why i havent had the opportunity to apply and he said he had 'misinterpreted' what was going on and people have been put into pools and are being selected from their own pool only. two things... 1)surely my boss has a duty to convey the correct info to me? do i have any recourse with regard to this? and 2) can they exclude me from applying like this, isnt there something about transfer of skills or something?

[buildersmate]

Oh, that's pretty interesting, and through your bosses actions your employer is sailing close to the wind.
Start by reading here.
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/de tail?r.l1=1073858787&r.l3=1074019927&r.lc=en&r .t=RESOURCES&type=RESOURCES&itemId=1073792402& r.i=1073792401&r.l2=1073876974&r.s=m
Further down this page you will come to be bit where it says that a potentially redundant employer has a right to be considered for alternative employment.
I suggest you write notes now on the nature and content of your conversation you had with your boss. Date it, sign it.
Then write a covering note to your boss something along the lines of Dear Boss, I confirm that I wish to be considered for the positions in Sales or any other alternative positions in the company for which I am suitably qualified, as an alternative to redundancy. I am taking the opportunity to include a copy of my own notes written soon after our recent conversation about this matter. Would you please take appropriate action to ensure that I am considered for the positions in Sales of which we spoke.
Once personnel get hold of your letter (as they surely will), action should be forthcoming.
The answers to your questions are 1) Yes. 2) No.
Post again if you want more help.

[factor-fiction]

I am no specialist in this area so I bow to buildersmate's knowledge in this area. From my experience, however, I have been through a major redundancy process with a large firm and the agreement the employer made with the union was that for some new posts the eligible pool would be just those people who had been declared redundant in the department affected. Maybe they felt they could justify this on the grounds that only those people would have the required skills