NEWS EXTRA REDUNDANCY…
PERIODIC REDUNDANCIES ARE a fact of life for the merchant sector. In December 2017, Wolseley announced that it was to shut its Warwickshire distribution centre and make cuts at its Leamington headquarters as part of a three-year restructuring plan. 170 jobs were lost at the distribution centre and a further 100 redundancies were made at head office among its administration and support functions.
And in January 2018, Burdens UK said it was closing its branch at Kinmel Park in Bodelwyddan as part of a restructuring programme. Seven jobs were to be lost as the branch relocated to Warrington.
What actually constitutes a redundancy situation? As an employer, when making redundancies it is important to get it right, as failing to do so could result in unfair dismissal claims being made. Successful claims could mean an employer having to pay compensation. This is what happened in October 2017 when James Weepers won an Employment Tribunal claim against H Dobson Glass Merchants 2012 Limited . The tribunal found that Weepers was dismissed for redundancy and was entitled to a redundancy payment of £780.
In order to fairly dismiss an employee, an employer must have a fair reason to dismiss, follow a fair procedure and the decision to dismiss, when considering all the circumstances, must be reasonable. Redundancy is one of five potentially fair reasons
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THE DO’S AND THE DON’TS
Chloe Themistocleous, an associate at law firm Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP, explains the rights and wrongs of redundancy...
an employer can give to dismiss an employee. Employers must be careful though, as they are required to prove there is a genuine redundancy situation in order to rely upon this reason in the event that they are defending an Employment Tribunal claim. A genuine redundancy situation can arise where a business has closed altogether, one of a business’s sites has closed or relocated, or where the business’s requirement to undertake certain work has reduced.
If an employer relies upon redundancy as the fair reason for dismissal and there is not a genuine redundancy situation, it is highly likely that an Employment Tribunal claim of unfair dismissal against it would succeed.
How can you dismiss for redundancy fairly? Provided there is a genuine redundancy situation, there are three key tasks employers must do to ensure they dismiss fairly: Firstly, they must warn and consult employees or their representatives about the proposed redundancy. They must adopt a fair basis to select employees for redundancy; and thirdly, they must consider suitable alternative employment in order to avoid redundancies.
Warning and consulting
Employers should approach affected employees at an early stage, prior to a formal decision being made, to inform them about possible redundancies and
give employees the opportunity to suggest ways in which redundancies could be avoided. When making small scale redundancies of under 20 people at one site, best practice is to then meet with employees on a one-to-one basis to discuss how the redundancy process will affect them personally.
If an employer is proposing to make large-scale redundancies - 20 or more employees within a 90-day period - the employer will have to undertake collective consultation with the appointed trade union or, if no union is recognised, the body of elected employee representatives. Fair selection depends on the nature of the redundancies being made. If someone is in a unique role or an entire team of
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net January 2019
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