AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The fight goes out of me. What’s the point when I’ve obviously already lost? Sharon obviously senses this and uses the opportunity to move things along.
‘Let me explain the process to you,’ she begins. ‘You will initially be placed on gardening leave for a month. This is a necessary step, which allows you to consider whether there are any available roles at Orchestra for which you might be suited. We will also consider whether there is another position we can offer you.’
‘Are there any current vacancies?’ I interrupt.
‘Not at the moment, no,’ she admits. ‘But someone might hand in their resignation tomorrow, you never know.’
I raise my eyebrows at her. We both know that’s extremely unlikely.
‘If, at the end of the gardening leave period, neither of us have found another role within the company that would suit you, then we finalise the redundancy at that point. Your redundancy package will consist of three months’ full salary in lieu of notice, which I’m afraid you will have to pay tax on. We will also give you three months’ full salary as an ex-gratia payment.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It’s a kind of thank you payment. The good news is that it forms part of your redundancy package, so it will be tax free, as will the five weeks of statutory redundancy pay that we are obliged to pay by law. We will continue to make payments into your pension during your notice period, and you will also still qualify for private medical treatment under the company scheme for that time.’
She slides a piece of paper across to me with the numbers on it. My eyes race to the bottom and widen when I see the final sum. It’s enough to keep me going for several months.
‘Do you have any questions?’ Sharon asks.
‘Why me, and not any of the other project managers? Is it because of my relationship with Lee?’
‘No, that wasn’t a factor. Even though we make plain our preference that employees don’t date each other, we’d never be allowed to use that as a reason to select someone for redundancy. You’d have ample grounds to claim unfair dismissal in that situation. The truth is that we look at a number of factors including your calendar, your time with the company, what development opportunities there are for you and so on.’
I turn to Jonathan. ‘It’s not like I was sitting around doing nothing!’ I exclaim. ‘I had two active projects, even without the NHS trust.’
He sighs. I can tell they both want this meeting to be over.
‘That’s true, but you had spare capacity, as did a couple of other project managers, so we will be redeploying your existing projects to them.’
‘I really am sorry, Ella,’ Sharon says again. ‘I know it’s a horrible shock. The only thing I can say is that research has shown that people who are made redundant usually go on to a new job that they’re far happier in. I hope that’s the case for you. We’ll be in touch in due course, OK?’
With that, she gathers her papers together and they both stand, indicating that the meeting is over. Part of me wants to refuse to leave, to stay here asking difficult questions just to disrupt their plans, but I think back to the quarter hour I had to wait, and I can’t help asking Sharon one more question.
‘Do you have anyone else you’ve got to do this to today, or am I the last one?’
‘Just one more after you,’ Sharon tells me. ‘I can’t tell you how much I hate this part of my job.’
I look at the clock. Ten to twelve, which means the next candidate for the firing squad is probably due in ten minutes. I don’t want them to have to endure the wait I did, so I get up and walk out of the door that Sharon is holding open for me. As we make our way across the lobby, there’s an awkward pause where it’s obvious that I’m heading one way and they’re heading back through the barriers to carry on with the jobs that they still have. For a moment, I hate them both.
‘Good luck, Ella. I mean that. We’re going to miss you.’ Jonathan holds out his hand. I force myself to be rational; it’s not his fault, after all.
‘Thanks, Jonathan,’ I reply as we shake hands. Then, before things can get any more awkward, I turn on my heel and stride out of the door onto the pavement.
As soon as I’m out of the building, the shock kicks in properly. I’m not crying, but I feel dizzy and numb, like my brain and my body have somehow disconnected from each other. I’m also disorientated and unable to decide what to do now. I don’t want to go back to the flat; oppressive silence is the last thing I need. I am, I realise with surprise, ravenously hungry. It’s weird, because I’ve hardly been able to face anything to eat since the email arrived on Thursday, but now that I know my fate and the uncertainty of the last week has gone, it’s like the hunger switch has been turned back on. I consider my options and decide to treat myself to lunch at the French bistro a couple of streets away. Hopefully, it will be fairly quiet on a Monday, and a bowl of moules with crusty bread to soak up the sauce, and maybe steak and fries to follow, sound just the thing. I need to get some food into me before I can even begin to process what just happened, let alone make any sort of plan about what to do next.
I’m relieved to see that the restaurant is as quiet as I predicted, but I still choose a table away from the window to minimise the chances of being seen. I’m not ready to face anyone from the office. The waiter takes my order; I’m briefly tempted to have a huge glass of white wine to wash all the food down with, but I’ve never been much of a midday drinker and lots of wine on an empty stomach is a recipe for disaster, so I play it safe and stick to water. I’m just starting to think about how long my redundancy package will keep me going for when my phone pings to let me know I have a message. It’s Lee.
How did you get on? I hope they offered you a massive pay rise to say sorry! Looking forward to celebrating when I get back on Friday. xxx
Argh. He’s even managing to be annoying by text now. I can see the waiter approaching with my moules, so I bash out a quick reply to get rid of him.
They found nothing. Celebration premature as I’ve been made redundant.
I’m barely three plump mussels into my starter when he calls.
‘What the fuck, Ella? How can they make you redundant?’
‘They needed to win the NHS contract and didn’t, so I’m out. That’s all there is to it.’
