A redundant employee has received about £35,000 for unfair dismissal following flaws in her employer’s redundancy selection procedure.
Genesis Housing Group set out interview criteria to assess those at risk of redundancy, but the interviewers were found to have not applied the criteria properly and no common interview panel was set up.
The Claimant, Lundholm – Gronbech, was then interviewed by a manager who was also conducting disciplinary proceedings against her, when other managers were available to carry out her interview.
The Tribunal took the view that the redundancy process should have been carried out by a person not involved in the disciplinary procedure.
This begs the question as to how many managers would need to be involved in the redundancy if several of the employees at risk of redundancy had been the subject of disciplinary action by different managers? Most small/medium businesses are not awash with managers and would probably not meet that criterion.
Regretfully, we have been asked to assist many of our clients through a redundancy process in recent months. In all cases we have been successful in bringing the matter to an early conclusion without repercussions from redundant employees.
However, this case highlights how vulnerable employers are when carrying through a redundancy procedure and we urge clients to always call us at the earliest opportunity; ideally as soon as you contemplate the need to cut costs.