Thomas Mansfield Reveals the Legalities Behind Redundancies

SURREY, ENGLAND, December 06, 2012

More redundancies have been announced in the past few weeks at Comet and Ford. Major job cuts in the thousands are coming in thick and fast in the run up to Christmas putting pay to the idea of Christmas spirit in the workplace.

Redundancies used to be an infrequent occurrence in the UK, but these days almost everyone can expect to be made redundant at some point in their careers.

Sadly, most people don't know the ins and outs of employment law and few know their rights when it comes to redundancy.

Employment law solicitors at Thomas Mansfield are on hand to help people facing redundancy. They do know the ins and outs of employment law and they can advise on the best course of action to take and where exactly the individual stands in their own, unique case. However, in the first instances, lawyers at Thomas Mansfield advise all employees to read up on the legalities of redundancy, especially in an employment market as volatile and fickle as the current one.

So what are the basics employees should know about redundancy? Thomas Mansfield lawyers explain.

In the same way that an employer cannot dismiss an employee without good reason, an employer cannot make an employee redundant without justification. There needs to be good reasons why an employee is being put at risk of redundancy for example, that the job is no longer required. If the employer has no valid reason or the position is being put at risk of redundancy for other reasons say performance or a personality clash, an unfair dismissal claim can be brought.

Secondly, employers need to consult with individuals and, where more than 20 people are being made redundant, both collectively and individually, to discuss options and how the redundancy will take place. If this is not done, once again unfair dismissal claims can be brought in addition to a claim for a protective award (failure to consult collectively when 20 or more positions are being made redundant) of up to 13 weeks pay per employee.

Thirdly, if the proposal is to reduce the number of positions in a pool of employees the employer will need to identify the individual(s) to be made redundant by applying selection criteria and undergoing a scoring exercise using objective criteria.

Also, any suitable alternative position should be offered to the employee proposed to be made redundant. The whole point about a redundancy process is to avoid making someone redundant if possible.

An employee should not be made redundant until the consultation period has expired and the employer has listened to any suggestions or proposals by the employee to avoid making the position redundant. At this stage, the employee should be notified of the decision in writing, given notice and given a breakdown of how any final payment (including the redundancy payment) is calculated.

Website: http://www.thomasmansfield.com/