How Is An Employee Selected for Redundancy?

If you are facing potential redundancy, your employer must use fair redundancy selection criteria when choosing which employees to put at risk of redundancy and dismissal. Their choice cannot be based on protected characteristics (see discrimination) such as age, race, disability or gender or for any other unfair reason.  We look at how employees are selected for redundancy and what to do if you do not believe your employer has followed the rules. Please remember that you must have at least 2 years of service to qualify for redundancy pay and make an unfair dismissal claim.

At Toner Legal, we deal solely with employment law and have many years of experience representing employees. We can examine how you have been selected for redundancy, and if a fair process has not been followed or there has been bias or discrimination, we will take steps to remedy this.

The redundancy selection process

Your employer will first have to decide what roles are at “risk” of redundancy. You must be informed that your position is at risk and no final decisions should be made (you will then go through a consultation process).

When making redundancies, your employer should consider whether there are any other options, such as suitable alternative employment. Employers can also ask if anyone will take voluntary redundancy.

If your employer decides that compulsory redundancy is unavoidable, your employment may then be terminated by reason of redundancy (it is key to ensure that the procedure of redundancy was fair).

The group of employees who could be made redundant is known as the selection pool. Your employer should follow their redundancy policy when choosing employees, or if they do not have a policy, follow Acas guidelines.

Selection criteria in redundancy

Once a selection pool has been created and employees have been notified that they are at risk of redundancy, your employer will need to apply selection criteria to decide who will leave.

Selection criteria should be objective and capable of being measured. Examples of standard selection criteria are:

• Experience, qualifications and skills
• Standard of work
• Length of service
• Attendance record
• Disciplinary record

Your employer should not discriminate when deciding on selection criteria, either directly or indirectly. For example, if they decide to select part-time workers, this could be indirect discrimination if more women than men are part-time workers.

If an employer uses the ‘last in, first out’ method of selection, this could potentially discriminate against the youngest employees.

Scoring selection criteria

Employers will generally score each selection criterion. Scoring must be done consistently, and your employer should be able to demonstrate that they have used objective evidence when scoring.

If they are scoring matters such as performance, then someone with knowledge of your performance should be the one to provide the score.

You should be given details of the selection criteria, the scoring system, and your score. This will allow you to consider whether your case has been handled fairly and whether you agree with the score you have been given. You should have the opportunity to speak to your employer about the scores at a consultation meeting, where you can raise any points you believe to be unfair or inaccurate.

There are many issues to consider when questioning whether redundancy is fair, and if you have concerns, you are advised to speak to an expert redundancy lawyer promptly.

For more information and details about our services, see our redundancy page.

If you are concerned that a fair process has not been followed in selecting you for redundancy, we can advise you of your rights and discuss the first steps in dealing with this.

Disclaimer

This blog is for information purposes only. Nothing should be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice and nothing written should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship.