skydivingisfun

Hi All

Well what a position i have found myself in

I have a L1B application going in and thinks are looking good

Conditions for me taking the role in the US are i have to resign from the UK side of the company and except a new contract with the US side

everything sounds fine so far, however just for fun i put my name forward for VR just to see how much money i would get, i was excepted for the VR (i dont have to take it i have until the 15th to decide) they have offered me £14000 now this is where it gets complicated

If i took the VR that is the same as resigning i think so in that case would i still be eligable to transfer as i would have been working for the same company the year prior to visa apllication

I have just emailed my HR department to see if this is right but must admit i am tottaly confused, my manager seems to think as long as all the dates fall into place there should not be a problem but it seems to good to be true to me

Any thoughts anyone

Thanks Steve

memiek

Hi Steve,

I'm far from being a lawyer but.... the rule with the L1 is that you must have worked for at least 1 year for the foreign company in the last 3 years. The way you hand in you resignation, i.e. via VR or resigning yourself, should not make any difference, as long as you have worked that 1 year.

If I we're you, wait until you have the outcome of the L1 petition and if it's in your favour: take the VR and the money (again.... you keep on being lucky )

skydivingisfun

Thanks for that, HR have confirmed what you have said VR is is the same as resigning so as long as the dates work out ££££££££££££££££ all the way

Steve

BritishGuy36

Lucky git!

franc111s

Not a financial services company is it? Why would you take 14,000 quid from a company which you are not really entitled just because you are going to work at the US corporate. If it smells bad, to me it is bad and this smells bad.

Isn't someone else more needy entitled? Just because the company policies are poor, doesn't mean you have to exploit it. just imagine when another HR employee realizes your trick (albeit legitimate) and tells a few people - your new "employer" might not like your ethics. Noir might your colleagues. Be careful.

Just my thought...

meauxna

That's what I am wondering. If Steve resigns before getting the visa and is a US employee when he goes for the visa interview.. oh it's making my head hurt.

Does VR mean 'voluntary redundancy' & how is it different from 'resigning'?

BritishGuy36

Voluntary redundancy is where a company wants to downsize and offers employees a potentially attractive severance package to leave voluntarily, rather than the company making compulsary redundancies.

If you resign obviously you get nothing....

meauxna

Thanks.

"Redundancy" is one of those terms that makes perfect sense when you stop to think about it, but isn't used the same way in American English. The first time someone told me they were being 'made redundant' it made me giggle until I realized they were serious.

memiek

Why do you think of this as some kind of trick? The company is downsizing, people have to go and Steve is one of those that is offered a package (at least, that's the way I read it). He is just being lucky he might already have landed another job.

Think of it this way: if he decides to take this deal (and the L1 is positive) than someone else who might not yet have another job lined up will not have to be made redundant. Making Steve taking the deal not a dirty trick but the saving of someone else's job...

meauxna

Steve is accepting an in-house transfer in his own company isn't he?

Noorah101

How can you be laid off and then accept a transfer with the same company. Something doesn't sound right, or I'm not following the exactly scenario here. I guess he's resigning from the UK side and accepting a contract with the USA side. But if he resigns, doesn't it mean he doesn't work for that company anymore?

Rene

meauxna

That's what I'm wondering too.
Multinationals, argh. I'll stick to my hippy food stores.

Ozzidoc

I thought that the L1B route meant that the employee would be TRANSFERRED from one company to another. Ie UK location to Other location. The terms and condition or employment under the new company may or may not be local.

I used to be a HR manager, and this is what we did with our inbound AND outbound accountants (PwC) and also our fund managers (another company who shall remain nameless).

I strongly suspect that any resignation letter or redundancy (voluntary or not) could invalidate the L1B route.

memiek

Lawyers: please correct me if I'm wrong but the way I see it, the L1 is indeed a transfer within the company but somehow there is a flaw in the design (or whatever you want to call it). It does not need you to be working in the company right now, but you must have got at least 1 year working in the past 3 years.

This is at least how I understand it and how it is described everywhere. If you need 1 year working in the last 3 years, it can mean that you worked for that company 2 years ago but not currently.

It's not the multi-nationals who have made this up, its the way the L1 is designed. It might look like a trick or some dirty way to get your hands on money but its not illegal.

MsElui

if they want to switch you from uk terms and conditions to the us ones the simplest way is probably resign from one and take new role with the new.

If he can take advantage of a VR situation at the same time then its just a fluke of luck. The company dont have to offer VR to the employees - and they certainly dont have to accept his application for it. At least it means they fill their headcount reduction by volunteers who basically are accepting an enhanced redundancy payoff by volunteering to go now, rather than having to take the whole department through the forced redundancy process to determine 'fairly' who should go (and likely get the govnt minimum payment).
It is usually only advantageous to people to apply for VR if they have a large amount of service years (ie so they are looking at a good payout) or if they can easily walk into another job (so essentially the payment is just a bonus for moving employers). Those who want to continue to work for the company, or those would struggle to find another job, or who havnt had many years of service to make it worthwhile simply wouldnt apply for VR. It doesnt suit everyone. Ive been through it at work and I didnt want to leave so didnt apply for it.