Redundancy

1. Genuinely Redundant?

It is the job, not the person, that is redundant. People unfairly dismissed under the pretence of redundancy can ask an employment tribunal to order a compensation award or reinstatement.

1.1 Genuine redundancy only arises when an employee is dismissed wholly (or mainly) for one or more of these reasons:

• The business stops doing what the person was employed to do (eg it closes down).
• The business stops doing it where the employee was employed to do it.
• There is a reduced need for people in the employee's category doing that kind of work in that place.

1.2 Most employees who are made redundant are entitled not to be dismissed unfairly.

• Part-timers enjoy the same protection as full-time employees.
• Employees with less than one year's service do not have this right, unless unlawful discrimination is involved in the dismissal.
• Employees with two years' service or more usually qualify for redundancy pay (see 6).

1.3 Employees cannot usually sign away their rights to statutory redundancy payments.