My husband took voluntary early retirement on 31 March with a slight enhancement to his pension as a result of his employer’s restructuring. The aim of the restructuring was to make savings. If he hadn’t left he would have had to apply for a job in the new structure or been redeployed elsewhere if he hadn’t been successful. Because of his service, under normal circumstances he would have been entitled to 12 weeks notice. Altho’ the pensions organisation (which is a separate organisation from his employer) contacted him in February giving him his pension options, he had received nothing in writing from his employer to confirm that his request for early retirement had been accepted and that his last day of employment would be 31 March. After numerous requests to his employer, he eventually got a letter confirming that he was leaving on 31 March. He received this letter some 5 weeks before he was due to finish. His employer says that because it was voluntary early retirement he was not entitled to any notice. Should he have been given his 12 weeks notice? Because this did not happen should he have been paid pay in lieu of notice?
Pat Black