|
 An employee is said to be made redundant if his employer no longer requires him
to carry out the work he was employed to do.
Three redundancies situations can arise;
- where an entire business is closed
- where the employees workplace is closed
- where the need for the employee to carry out work of a particular kind has diminished
 A redundancy situation can be a potentially fair reason for an employer to dismiss
an employee. Depending on the number of employees likely to be affected by
the redundancy an employer may be required to arrange collective and individual consultations
with employees and to consider suitable alternative employment as appropriate.
If an employee is made redundant, an employer may in some circumstances be liable
for unfair dismissal where he has failed to act reasonably. Evidence that an employer
has acted
reasonably would be adopting ufair and objective selection procedures;
warning and consulting with employees likely to be affected by the redundancy;
consulting with recognised trade unions and considering alternatives to dismissal.
An employer may be liable for a claim for breach of contract on dismissal if he
fails to give an employee proper notice of his intention to dismiss him or payment
in lieu of notice if permitted.
An employee, who has completed at least two years continuous employment and is dismissed
by reason of redundancy, will generally be entitled to a minimum statutory redundancy
payment which is calculated by taking into account the employee's age, length of service and salary.
There may be an express or implied term in an employee's contract of employment,
entitling him to an enhanced redundancy payment and setting out an agreed redundancy
procedure.
An employer must provide an employee with a statement showing how the redundancy
payment has been calculated. Each act of an employer in failing to provide a statement
either voluntarily, or in response to an employee's demand amounts to a criminal offence.
As an employee, you should be aware that if you feel that you have been unfairly
selected for redundancy, then, you should first bring the matter to your employers
attention though
the company's internal grievance procedure, before commencing a
claim
in the Employment Tribunal.
There are strict time limits for
commencing claims in the Employment Tribunal and Courts.
There are different time limits within which you must bring your claim for redundancy
within the Employment Tribunal, depending on whether your redundancy claim is for
unfair dismissal (three months less one-day from the day you were dismissed,) or
entitlement to a statutory redundancy payment. To secure your entitlement to the
statutory payments you must generally before six months from the relevant date,
agree and receive a payment from your employer; make a a written claim for payment
from your employer, bring a claim for payment or a claim for unfair
dismissal in the Employment Tribunal.
If
you believe you have a claim against your employer
please
complete our Free Online
Assessment Form, now. We will then
respond to you usually
within
48 working hours, including a free, initial assessment of your claim.
Alternatively you can download the free initial assessment
form and send it to net employment solicitors at the address
on our contact page.
| 
