Redundancy. The word is enough to take the bounce out of anyone’s stride. For a business, it means undergoing a complicated process of selection, consultation, getting over all the practical hurdles that may pop up along the way and all the while somewhere at the back of your mind sits the uncomfortable prospect of a … Continue Reading
As we know, where an employee is engaged under one or a series of fixed-term contracts for a period of over 2 years, they acquire the right not to be unfairly dismissed. It is also the case that non-renewal of a fixed-term contract will count as a dismissal under the ERA 1996. An employee whose … Continue Reading
Let’s get our terms straight to start with. Redundancy selection is where you have more than one person (say, A and B) carrying out a role for which the employer’s need has diminished, and then choosing which of them to let go. Bumping is where you have chosen the employee who is notionally redundant but … Continue Reading
At the end of my post on Maternity Action’s report on unfair redundancies, I mentioned a number of the reasons why many recent mothers do not raise complaints about their perceived treatment at the hands of their employer. These included a fear of creating bad feeling with their employer or colleagues, a lack of information, … Continue Reading
Back in March 2016 I posted a piece querying the headlines over an Equalities and Human Rights Commission report on maternity and pregnancy discrimination at work. The short point was that the report did not justify the apocalyptic headlines about the treatment of women who were pregnant or on maternity leave. Looked at close up, … Continue Reading
Much has been written over the last month or so about Mental Health, and rightly so. It has now overtaken back pain as the principal cause of workplace absence in the UK. Anything which encourages an environment in which mental health issues may be more openly discussed and genuine sufferers’ sense of isolation or embarrassment … Continue Reading
As I wrote in this space last year, layoffs for economic circumstances exist under Japanese law, but are exceedingly difficult to achieve without constituting wrongful dismissal. One major international airline is learning this the hard way. Three years ago, the airline terminated three Japan-based employees in connection with the closing of its call center in … Continue Reading
I have done my best to make this case report sound interesting and I like to think that even the most casual review of it will show that I have, well, failed. However, it is still important, especially for those involved in collective redundancy or TUPE consultations. Employers may need to revisit the potential cost … Continue Reading
If because of your disability you are absent from work and if because of that absence your employer discovers that it doesn’t actually need you, does your resulting redundancy arise from your disability? This is important because Section 15 Equality Act 2010 says that if A treats B unfavourably “because of something arising in consequence … Continue Reading
Protecting your enhanced severance scheme Some employers pay only the statutory minimum entitlement on a redundancy dismissal, but others recognise that redundancy is a no-fault reason for termination and try to do something to sweeten an otherwise bitter pill. Maybe this is no more than paying in lieu of notice without deduction of tax (for … Continue Reading
Dealing with employee absences and grievances in redundancy consultation You’ve delivered the at risk letter and sent the employee home on pay pending the formal consultation meeting. As an HR professional it is possible that your faith in human nature has become a little corroded over time, so you are not completely surprised when what … Continue Reading
Managing redundancy for those on maternity leave Many employers get nervous when carrying out redundancy exercises if the selection pool includes a woman who is pregnant or on maternity leave. The risk of a claim for discrimination or an unfair dismissal claim if she is made redundant is often on their mind. The fact that … Continue Reading
Take good notes of consultation meetings This may sound trite, but it is amazing how often this is overlooked. You need good notes if you are going to follow-up on any points after the meeting, if the employee subsequently challenges anything that was said, or if the matter ends up in the Employment Tribunal; so … Continue Reading
Ensure you have evidence to support an employee’s score One thing we come across on a regular basis is managers who are unable to point to hard evidence, such as personnel records or appraisal forms, to support the scores allocated as part of the selection process. Not only does this leave scope for the employee … Continue Reading
Large-scale redundancies may not be happening (fortunately) to the same extent as in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 (and it’s too early to talk meaningfully about the possible implications of Brexit), but we are still often asked to advise clients in connection with smaller-scale redundancy exercises, often arising as a result of … Continue Reading
Three former directors of failed UK parcel delivery company City Link have recently been delivered the bad news that they will face criminal charges over redundancies made during the Christmas period last year. They have been charged with failure to notify the Secretary of State of the proposed redundancy of City Link’s employees as required … Continue Reading
Making staff redundant is a difficult and unpleasant part of any manager’s responsibilities, but you really don’t want to hear your employees baying “A poil, à poil!” (“Off with his clothes”!) when holding meetings to discuss job losses. This is what happened to two Air France managers forced to flee what even by French standards … Continue Reading
So that turned out to be a lot of fuss about not very much, didn’t it? USDAW – v – Ethel Austin, better known as the Woolworths case, was a challenge by trade union USDAW to the established reading of Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This requires collective … Continue Reading
There’s never been a more opportune time for employers in Australia to review their contracts and policies than now, with the NSW Supreme Court this week awarding more than $3 million to a chief executive after finding his employer’s redundancy policy was incorporated into his employment contract. Mr James was the CEO at ABN AMRO … Continue Reading
France’s Parliament passed a law on February 24, obliging companies with more than 1,000 employees to prove they have exhausted options for selling a plant (and so preserving all or some of the jobs there) before closing it. This is applicable to shut-downs initiated as from April 1st 2014. The Works Council will have to … Continue Reading
Nothing helps you to absorb the practical ramifications of a difficult legal development better than a decent dinner and Chatham House rules. So earlier this month we hosted senior HR and Legal staff from a number of clients and contacts, all business with multiple sites in the UK and spanning sectors from design to entertainment … Continue Reading
This post is kindly written for us by Lord Justice Underhill of the Court of Appeal. Actually, that’s not entirely (or indeed at all) true. However, while reciting long tracts of Court Judgments is rarely a good way to make friends and influence people, his recent guidance on when enhanced redundancy terms will become contractual … Continue Reading
Great news for fans of cheap political propaganda this week as the Department for Business Innovation & Skills releases an updated version of its 2011 Employers’ Charter. The original version was a shallow gesture aimed at dispelling the belief common among retired Colonels and other Daily Express readers that UK employment laws are all tilted … Continue Reading
