UK Employment Law\ Employee \Redundancy
Dismissal (redundancy)
Redundancy is a form of legally valid dismissal where a position at an organisation is no longer needed. The position is made redundant and thereby so is the worker that once filled it.
However, despite it being a valid way for employers to reduce staff numbers, an employee can still pursue a case for unfair dismissal. The main basis for such an action is when the employee in question believes the selection process was unfair. There are a number of grounds on which a tribunal case can be launched:
- if someone was made redundant because of trade union membership (or even non-membership); or
- if someone was made redundant for health and safety reasons;
- if someone was made redundant for asserting statutory employment rights; or
- if someone was made redundant for maternity-related issues; or
- if someone was made redundant because of refusal to carry out shop work or betting shop work on Sundays; or
- if someone was made redundant for performing duties connected with a role as an employee occupational pension scheme trustee; or
- if someone was made redundant for representing another employee; or
- if someone was made redundant for reasons connected with the national minimum wage; or
- for reasons connected with Working Time Regulations 1998; or
- for making a protected disclosure in relation to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998; or
- for taking valid leave for the following: parental, ordinary & additional maternity, time off for dependants; or
- for taking lawful and official industrial action (apart from certain duration regulations); or
- for exercising trade union recognition procedures; or
- for performing duties relating to the Trans-national Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999; or
- for reasons connected with the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000; or
- for exercising the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary and grievance hearing; or
- for Tax Credits Act 2002 reasons; or
- for reasons connected with the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.
An employment tribunal also needs to be convinced that the employer made the employee redundant with sufficient reason. The tribunal will investigate whether the action was fair. It will look to see if the employer gave sufficient warning and considered alternative employment.
More information is available from government document ‘Redundancy payments’ (PL808) and the ACAS booklet ‘Redundancy handling’.
