In a ruling by the EAT an employer has been found to have acted unreasonably by making an employee redundant, and the employee has been awarded €50,000 in compensation.
The case in question concerns Free -v- Oxigen Environmental (UD206/2011), and relates to an employee who had been employed with the company from April 2005 to June 2010. The Company in this case tried to argue that the redundancy was a part of a Company-wide restructuring and upon termination the employees role ceased to exist.
The tribunal found that the employer had acted unfairly and unreasonably for the following reasons;
- the decision to make the employee redundant was made at a meeting in a hotel prior to the consultation process
- there was no serious or worthwhile consultation with the employee.
- no suitable or substantial consideration was given to alternatives to dismissing the employee
- there was no worthwhile discussion in relation to the criteria used for selecting the employee.
We have posted many times on this topic and how there is an onus on an employer to ensure a thorough and worthwhile consultation process is put in place prior to any decision being made. In the above case the decision was made prior to any consultation process, which effectively made the consultation worthless.
Tips For Employers
Employers should ensure that;
- there is a justifiable reason for making an employee redundant;
- there is a clear selection criteria that takes account of all employees working in the same area;
- alternative positions which the employees are capable of doing are considered; and
- there is a worthwhile consultation process in place to ensure an employee is able to fully understand the process and the implications of a potential redundancy.
Large awards are being made against employers for a lack of fair procedures, even where there is a genuine reason for redundancy, so a fair consultation process is essential and could be the difference between a finding of fair and unfair dismissal.
