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Unfair Redundancy and What to do

By: Paul Geraghty - Updated: 8 Jul 2021 | comments*Discuss
 
Redundancy Employer Complaint Unfair

Redundancies frequently give rise to disputes between employers and their former employees. One of the circumstances which can give rise to dispute is called unfair dismissal.

Failure to Follow Proper Redundancy Procedure

A redundancy will always be considered unfair if the employer has not followed the procedure laid down in the law for carrying it out. For example, if more than 20 people are being made redundant at once, the employer is supposed to engage in collective consultation. Failure to do that would make the redundancies automatically unfair.

Unfair Dismissal

Apart from procedural violations, unfair dismissal exists when an employer tells one or more employees that they will lose their jobs because of redundancy, but, in reality, that is not the real reason. In this case, redundancy is being used as a pretext for something else. The real reasons behind an unfair dismissal can vary enormously. Some common ones include :
  • Prejudice against you because of your age, sex, race or religion.
  • Personal dislike.
  • Unhappiness with your job performance. (In fact this is a valid reason for dismissing someone from a job but there are set procedures an employer should go through, including warnings about your performance and so forth, before the dismissal takes place. An unscrupulous employer may wish to evade these.)
  • Pregnancy.
  • Asserting your statutory rights, for example by asking your employer for a written statement of your responsibilities.
  • Being a member of a trade union or a representative of your fellow employees in some other form.

How to Tell if a Redundancy is Unfair

It is not always easy to tell if a redundancy is unfair. If your employer or manager has made prejudicial remarks to you over time, referring to your race or religion, for example, obviously that would provide a good indication that something else may lie behind your dismissal.

Typically, in redundancies, several people will be made redundant at the same time. If you are the only one who is made redundant, that, too, may provide an indication that something is amiss, although there are times when this can be justified.

Although we speak of this or that person being made redundant, it is more correct to say that a person’s job is being made redundant, rather than the individual. In genuine redundancies, the employer no longer needs the relevant job functions to be performed. If, therefore, other people within the organisation do the same job as you, but are not made redundant, this might give an indication that the redundancy is unfair. Of course, there also are cases where an employer still needs a job to be done, just not to the same extent as before, so some people doing the job may have to be let go. In this case, the criteria for those who are to be made redundant should be clearly explained to you during the redundancy process, and those criteria should be objectively-based.

A clear sign that the redundancy is unfair is if, after you are terminated from the position, someone else is recruited to fill it.

Unfair Dismissal – Protection and Redress

Unfortunately, not everyone is protected from unfair dismissal. In general, only those with one year of service with their employer are protected legally. However, if the reason for dismissal involves certain kinds of discrimination, this restriction does not apply.

If your case falls within the scope of the law, you can take your complaint about unfair dismissal to an Employment Tribunal. You must do so within three months of your employment ending. Once the procedure begins, the burden will be on your employer to demonstrate that your dismissal was fair. If unfairness is proved, the remedies available range from reinstating you in your job to forcing your employer to pay financial compensation to you for having lost it. Further details about the complaint procedure are given in articles elsewhere on this site.

Unfair Dismissal – Conclusion

Bad employers use redundancy as a way of getting rid of employees they don’t like. Fortunately, legal remedies exist to deter or punish them for doing so.

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I've been in the job for 11 years. I'm 61 years old. Iam saving in Local government pension scheme. I have a disability. I've been bullied and victimised at work for about 8 years. Tried to solve these issues by: first, with informal grievance and got worse. Then with a formal grievance. Because of the grievanceI was victimised at the point that one year later they carried out a consultation process -a restructure that only affected me.As this was proved to be wrong, they had to give me back my job as it was.All of this triggered my mental health.Then they did not allow me to attend the mental health treatment. They ignored medical letters about it. Just now I am off sick because I had an accident an broke a bone right arm. A week after the accident I was shocked by a surprised phone call from my employer telling me that a Restructure -Consultation process was on the way and that my post is going to be affected. They deleted my post and created another post to cover mine completely anddrastically diminishing my postin all aspects such as salary, hrs of work, only 39 weeks per year instead of 52 weeks. etc.As detrimental that it is clear that they are looking for my way out.Just covering an unfair dismissal through restructure process. My health it's been very deteriorated because of the treatment so I feel in a big disadvantage to gain another job with all the health issues. For a long time I just put my head down and tolerated all the bully etc. trying to keep my job and now this. I do not know what to do.where to go for help and advise etc.
Nidi - 8-Jul-21 @ 2:48 PM
I have been on furlough since before Christmas. I just found out today, 7th July, that my employment was terminated on 30th June. I have been in my job for approximately 10 years. While I have been expecting there might have been redundancies made at work, there has been no proper consultation process with my employer. I only found out through the HMRC app that my employment had been terminated, as I was checking to see why my furlough pay for June has not been paid. This seems very unfair to me and I am now wondering what my next steps should be. I would be grateful for any advice that you can give me
Geeza - 7-Jul-21 @ 1:17 PM
Hi, I am being made redundant while I am on maternity leave due to cost cutting,there are 4 others being made redundant as well, 2 of us are and were on maternity leave. Is this unfair redundancy?
Ann - 30-Jun-21 @ 4:14 PM
I am being transferred to another site I’m a scaffolder if there’s payoffs will I go before people with less time than me
Stu - 7-Jan-21 @ 6:26 PM
Hi, I have been working in my job for 20 years, for the last 10 years I have been on a job share of a 40hr week with another person .... many people within my company are being made redundant, the company are doing everything right as in consultation process etc. We have many different rostas as in earlies, mixed lates etc .... they are making me and my job sharer redundant from our lates rostabut have filled our positions with people from other rostas .... is this a case of constructive dismissalany advice would be appreciated....
Lynny - 16-Dec-20 @ 10:41 PM
Hi I was doing a highly trained job for a company but poached to go to another department by 2 managers and this was agreed by head office. I started the job in feb and was then on furlough from March to July and now back doing that job but also helping in another department. I have now been told I’m at high risk of being made as the new job role I accepted before furlough no longer exists in the business’s new structure. However my old job role is being advertised in the job centre. Is this right?
Lee - 10-Nov-20 @ 6:25 AM
Hi any help or advice would be great, my boss has closed his business and no longer will re open he would not acknowledge anything about making me redundant once furlough ends, I asked for a redundancy notice letter and he gave me a p45 and says that’s all he has to do and I have to claim redundancy else where, I’ve been employed there for 8 years so no I am entitled to it but he won’t speak about it and says it’s no longer his problem as I no longer work there not sure where to go from here
AR - 3-Nov-20 @ 7:47 AM
I am currently going through a consultation for redundancy. Firstly there are 10 people at our site but significantly more at other sites across the company all going through the same thing at the same time. I asked about the 30 day consultation period as there is more than 20 employees collectively that are being made redundant. They said it wasn’t requiredas it’s only 10 at our site. Is this correct? Also I hold 2 jobs for my employer, a 32 hour a week role (held for 23 years) and a 2.5 hour a week role (held for 14 years) - both at different rates of pay and working in different departments with different line managers. My 32 hour a week job is being made redundant. Can I take a paid redundancy package on my 32 hour role and keep working my 2.5 hour role or do I have to leave the company completely and be made redundant on both roles?
LJ - 29-Oct-20 @ 3:50 PM
Hi there I am been tuped over to another major company after 10 years which will turn into 11 in November. I have not been given notice yet but I have had a conference call with our he and their employee relation person. He basically told me that I will not be put in a pool for redundancy and I will be made redundant when I tupe over... the reason for not putting me in a pool is he said that there are no other managers in my area / postcode . I asked him for details of other managers not specific addresses but areas where they live and he said he could not give me them due to data protection.. i am a field manager so travelling g has never been an issue for me and I have managed a team of meter readers across Bradford Halifax Huddersfield all South Yorkshire and East Yorkshire totally around half a million miles square... he knows this and still says that there isn’t a manager in my area.. I have been offered an enhanced package of 2.5 weeks per year in my old company and I have until the 22/102020 to take this or it will be taken off the table and the other company says if I do t take it then they will Make me redundant and I will lose around £10,000 .... What are your thoughts ?
Zueso1970 - 19-Oct-20 @ 6:46 AM
Hi ive been told my role was being made redundant, yet i know work is still coming in for my role. I have been told my manager would take up the role i was doing. Surely if my role has been.made redundant how can the manager take it up?Is this a case of unfair dismissal. Orders have reduced by almost 50% from last yr but orders are still coming through.
Munch - 18-Oct-20 @ 9:31 PM
Hi there I am been tuped over to another major company after 10 years which will turn into 11 in November. I have not been given notice yet but I have had a conference call with our he and their employee relation person. He basically told me that I will not be put in a pool for redundancy and I will be made redundant when I tupe over... the reason for not putting me in a pool is he said that there are no other managers in my area / postcode . I asked him for details of other managers not specific addresses but areas where they live and he said he could not give me them due to data protection.. i am a field manager so travelling g has never been an issue for me and I have managed a team of meter readers across Bradford Halifax Huddersfield all South Yorkshire and East Yorkshire totally around half a million miles square... he knows this and still says that there isn’t a manager in my area.. I have been offered an enhanced package of 2.5 weeks per year in my old company and I have until the 22/102020 to take this or it will be taken off the table and the other company says if I do t take it then they will Make me redundant and I will lose around £10,000 .... What are your thoughts ?
Zueso1970 - 13-Oct-20 @ 2:03 PM
I’m currently going through the process of being made redundant and been told my role is no longer needed as sous chef yet the Jnr sous chef will remain as classed more as a cdp After the initial group chat with the gm and hr when my specific role was mentioned I got told no other jobs are available anywhere for me and when I saw the gm minutes after the call he admitted I was going and apologised to me. Is this unfair dismissal as happened before my individual meeting happened so not following correct process?
Donkey - 1-Oct-20 @ 3:51 PM
Hi and thanks for any help. I was recently made redundant. I have work at the cafe for over twenty years. The cafe was recently sold (18mnths who) and new ownerstaken over. I wasn't offered any redundancy or the chance to work notice just a text saying that, unfortunately we have had to end your employment. We have talked to citizens advice they mentioned things such as type. Andsay I should have received redundancy either at the time of new owners taking over/ or at the time they wished to terminate my employment. So I'm wondering what the next step is.
Tess - 9-Sep-20 @ 9:43 PM
I was up for redundancy in my employment as we're another 12, 3 stood for v.r and we had a certain time to do that when that was over not enough people had gone so one person had to go so we had to reapply for the roles so I had the interview and was told anyone who couldn't drive couldn't get the role I drive and have my own vehicle and I was told I failed the interview to point scoring but there are 2 people who don't drive so I feel I have been unfairly selected what do I do
Mkd - 8-Sep-20 @ 4:38 PM
I've been made redundant and part of the matrix was attitude with no key to how it was scored. Can this be seen as unfair?
Di - 6-Sep-20 @ 6:53 PM
Hello, I am at risk of redundancy and have had a consultation meeting. My company is using a scoring matrix but the unions at my company do not agree with this system. I am not in the union but does this matter. If the unions do not agree with this can the company still use the system to make me redundant. Thanks
Tate - 1-Sep-20 @ 4:13 PM
I need some advise, if I'm the only one with the Job title left in the buisness and that job gets made redundant, this should mean there is no longer a need for my work to be done? If my work is givien to my colleuges who i have been training over the past year is that allowed? They are based around europe and not in UK. They dont share the same Job title at the moment and have learnt all the skills needed to do my role over the last year since my consulation in 2019. It mentions in my risk letter that single point of failure on shore but offshore able to support? Really appreciate any help givien. Kind Regards George
George - 20-Aug-20 @ 1:23 PM
I have been told out the blue I have been made redundant. After 4 years of employment. No meeting or explaination During the week someone else has been employed in my role and the claim is I don’t have skills or attitude to carry out the role anymore, no we have less customers. I am a barman. Can anyone advise what to do. Also they employed someone new while I as still on furlough
Nicco - 30-Jul-20 @ 3:58 AM
Can a redundancy notice... expire? Is there a clock ticking that the employer must initate or complete procedures by? I've read that consultations themselves should take 30-45 days, but that the HR1 notice expires after 90 days... so if a company, for whatever reason, fails to even start, never mind, finish a redundancy consultation, after a certain period, does the whole process simply time out? Surely, you can't be at perpetual risk of redundancy?
By Jove - 28-Jul-20 @ 10:45 PM
Hello, I was informed my role was being being made redundant on the 30th June. So far I have had 2 consultation meetings with a 3rd due next week. I am in a pool of 1 and finding it very hard to get any information from my employer as to why I have been singled out for redundancy when people with similar roles are not affected. How can I prove that I have been treated unfairly and what can I ask at my next/ final meeting that might help me??
LMA39 - 18-Jul-20 @ 10:11 PM
I’ve just been made redundant out of the blue today. Since lockdown our team took a 20% pay reduction. I have been with the company over 8 years and during this time became ill so reduced my hours from full time to 6 hours a day. I am a 36 year old women and due to get married next month. I am one of the most experienced in the team. The reason for my redundancy was there is no longer a role but they aren’t making any of my other team members redundant. I am on the lowest wage with 8 years behind me so making me redundant doesn’t make sense. I feel like I’ve been unfairly dismissed. Is there anything I can do? They say they have tried to find other jobs else where in the company but can’t even though there are free lancers doing the same job.
Mich - 30-Jun-20 @ 8:13 PM
Hi, was looking for general advice. Been with a company 4 years, and am told due to a downturn my assistant manager role is no longer required after consultation. I am the only person at the site under consultation, and being made redundant, with other assistant managers in different locations unaffected. Does this seem ‘unfair’ in the eyes of the law?
Unfair? - 27-Jun-20 @ 4:24 PM
Can an employer dismiss you for redundancy on the basis of receiving verbal feedback? I have been put at risk, The feedback cited to describe why I have received a lower score than my poll (poll of 4) had never been communicated to me in my 1:1 discussions with my manager or in year end appraisals. It’s all new to me. Also, I know that my manager had not been contacted to provide feedback - I suspect this is because he was let go. Instead my Company are saying that they relied on verbal feedback from Director level and above individuals that I have had little contact with. Thanks
Cc - 18-Jun-20 @ 11:15 AM
I have been made redundant after being fought to get into a pool and been interviewed by different bosses. My existing boss has intervened and said that I’ve been deselected from the pool. The reasons being not for my performance but because of age and not having qualifications. Please advise.
LAC - 11-Jun-20 @ 8:38 AM
Hi, I have been informed my job is up for redundancy, on my team there are two of us,I started 5 years ago as a maintenance assistant, they started a younger guy on and change the job description to maintenance operative, we are payed the same salary and are job descriptions are the same,they did not change job description for me even when I asked,my job is now being made redundant and the other being retained till such timebusiness gets better,I feel this is unfair.
Kev - 10-Jun-20 @ 2:47 PM
Hi Having worked for a company for 18 years (completely clear record 1 day sickness, no warnings) the past 18 months have been a nightmare working with a new boss who clearly doesn’t trust me, like me, value my work, feel I am capable of doing my job and clearly thinks I am overpaid. I have now been put at risk and given a JD of a new job available which has a slightly different skillsetand I am able to apply for. This hasn’t been supplied with a salary yet! I have had several meetings with my boss about how they have completely obliterated my confidence, started to make me poorly (mental health) and if they wish to question my work then they should provide me with a written statement of my responsibilities which I haven’t received. Subsequently since informing them that I have needed to seek medical advice and been prescribed medication to help me I have been put at risk. I feel this is not a genuine redundancy and they just want me gone. The new role is within my scope but I haven’t had the offer of training for it and they actually have no idea if I have the skills because I haven’t been asked to do the specific tasks. Thanks
N - 30-May-20 @ 10:16 PM
I have worked for a small family business since I was sixteen. Thirty two years later having never had one warning verbal or written I went on holiday for two weeks and on my return I was sent a letter of suspension. It said I had to stay away from the warehouse why the family made up allegations that the customers (my customers) who I sell and deliver too had reported me being drunk and on drugs for the last six months. I had stuck by the managing director through thick and thin and was doing double the work of both him and his son. I was dismissed a month later even though I was signed of with stress and not being fit to work on four counts of gross misconduct. They did not have one statement off any of the customers nor had even contacted them. The whole procedure was done by his horrible step daughter who came in for 15 mins per week to type 3 or 4 invoices into the computer and allocate payments to the wrong accounts. I could of left when the times in textiles were good and be retired by now for the amount of money I made for that horrible nasty family but Ichose to stand by him because all of his family used him for money and still do. It’s been three months since I last spoke to him before going on holiday. If anyone who reads this and works for a dysfunctional family, get out now because by doing so you’ll save your mental health when they stab you in the back years later with leaving you with nothing!
Betrayal - 5-Jan-20 @ 4:50 PM
Hi I was made redundant from the care home that I have worked there for 5yrs at the beginning I was full time and for the last year I have been bank staff I got my last wage slip and all I got was 8 hrs work and 12 hrs holidayand no redundancy I am seeing the owner this afternoon please I really need advice many thanks jane day
Jane the pain - 10-Dec-19 @ 11:44 AM
I have recently been made redundant. When I was recruited I was told the role would never amount to much more hours than the 20 I work. However we have increased our product range, thus doubling my workload. They have so moved my building. So it is harder to do my job as everything is not all in one place. I do not have the same boss I was hired with as she left the business. They asked me to go full time but due to my disability I am unable to do so. So I was told I would get help. This however was taken off me so my work was falling behind (expected) I was told they were making me redundant and I do not believe they consulted with me, as I suspect the decision was made when I was offered full time. I have never hidden my disability. I have one very obvious one too. I've never had a warning nor any kind of disciplinary. At the first meeting they offered me only full time work? can they do that? As I had to decline I am now redundant. I am a member of a union for disabled workers.Do I have a case for unfair dismissal/discrimination?
Our shirl - 29-Nov-19 @ 12:19 AM
I have found myself in a redundancy situation where I have been marked down in the matrix scoring as being sick. When I was off on compassionate leave for a parent who found out they were terminally ill. I have proof of this from a Macmillan nurse. Do I have grounds to win my appeal?
Don - 27-Aug-19 @ 4:57 PM
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