The Ins And Outs Of Redundancy In Employment Law

Redundancy can mark the beginning of tough times for the individuals and families immediately affected, particularly with the economic climate as it is. Experienced and long-term employees can find themselves unexpectedly out of work, faced with the far from simple task of finding another job. The threat of redundancy can often leave an employee feeling distressed and ill at ease with the world.

An employer can make employees redundant for a few legitimate reasons, although it goes without saying that these reasons should be compliant with the laws governing employment dismissals. It is important to understand that being made redundant is not the same as being fired or sacked due to any form of employee misconduct, and cannot be classed as actually being sacked at all.

A employee who is being made redundant is protected by certain redundancy rights and must be given notice of their redundancy in written form within a set time frame.

How can you be made redundant?
Redundancy refers to when an employee's services are no longer needed by the employer, and subsequently. Reasons for redundancy could include:
" The company is itself no longer functioning (i.e. the business closing down)
" The need to reduce the number of staff because costs need to be cut
" The role no longer exists for the employee
" New technology has replaced the employee's necessity.

Employers must follow strict guidelines and a particular procedure to ensure that a redundancy is legal and the rights of the employee are not infringed upon. An employer can't simply decide that an employee is being made redundant effective immediately.

Lawful procedures that an employer must follow to ensure an employee's rights are respected:
" Employers must always consult with the employee before making them redundant - this involves either making them aware of the causes for their selection, and looking at possible alternatives to redundancy
" Employers must write a letter that gives justified reason for the redundancy. The letter must also include how the employee in question has been selected for redundancy, how and when the redundancy is occurring and who is affected by the redundancy (e.g. how many other employees are also being made redundant)

Selecting an employee for redundancy
Employees to be made redundant should never be chosen randomly by the employer, and evidence is always required to inform their decisions so that it is done fairly and ethically.

Sometimes the selection process can be straight forward, such as when an employer is perhaps moving their business to another city or country due to financial hardship, thereby affecting all the employees from the soon-to-be-defunct workplace. At other times, the employer may need to rely on records to inform a selection pool'.
The selection pool refers to a group of employees who could be made redundant, and it is integral that the reasons for their redundancy be based on fair and ethical practices.

Unethical (and therefore illegal) reasons for selecting people for redundancy include selecting people based on unfairly discriminatory criteria, which include a person's race, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender and disability. This also includes whether a person is in a part-time, full-time or fixed-term contract - these cannot be used as a justified cause for selecting who should be dismissed.

Ethical grounds for redundancy selection can take into account an employee's experience, their competence, their capability to do their job and the state of their disciplinary records.

Does an employee have a right to make a claim against redundancy?
If for any reason there is some sort of dispute over the methods in which an employer has selected an employee for redundancy, or if the employer has not acted in line with redundancy procedure, disputing the redundancy through employment law channels is certainly a legitimate option.

After registering any grievances that a person may have with their employer over the redundancy, it is commonplace to seek advice from The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) or The Labour Relations Agency (if the dispute is in Northern Ireland), who can offer confidential advice to either party, whether they are the employee seeking justice for a wrongful redundancy or the employer who wishes to resolve any disputes their decision may have caused.

Being made redundant can be a tumultuous affair for many. Making sure you know your rights could make a huge difference.

By: BTLewis.

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Bryan Lewis is a jack of all legal trades, who has written a fair bit about the law in his time. He has contributed to a number of different legal sites, including legal information on employment law solicitors and general disability discrimination claims.