Employment law SOS: Dos and Don'ts of redundancy
1 min read
<b>We are cutting two operator roles from one of our production lines but the employees we have earmarked for redundancy on performance reasons are much older than the others in the team. How can we ensure this is not seen as discriminatory?</b>
When starting any redundancy process, it is first of all very important not to 'earmark' anyone for redundancy. To establish a fair reason for dismissal, an employer must enter into full consultation with all the employees at risk of redundancy before any decisions are made. Tribunals like to see that employers have followed a fair process from start to finish.
Where an employer has to make a selection between a number of roles, it is important to establish a set of objective selection criteria which will be applied to that particular redundancy exercise. Examples could include standard of work performance, technical skills and competence, post-specific criteria (which will depend on the particular roles at risk), disciplinary record and attendance record.
Try to ensure that one or two managers with relevant experience of working with the individuals at risk carry out the selection assessment. Do review employee records to support the scores that are awarded such as appraisals, training and personnel records. Showing that you have actually reviewed employee records will show that the criteria adopted are measurable, rather than just based on someone's opinion. Avoid, where possible, subjective comments which cannot be independently supported.
By following these steps, this will help protect an employer from any claims of discrimination. Even if ultimately it is the older employees who are eventually selected for redundancy, following a fair process and using objective criteria will help the employer justify their decisions and also defend any discrimination claim which a disgruntled employee may bring.
