Availability of Furlough Scheme Rendered Redundancy Unreasonable

A great many businesses were plunged into grave financial difficulties by the COVID-19 pandemic, but was it reasonable to make employees redundant at a time when the furlough scheme provided a less draconian option? An Employment Tribunal (ET) considered that issue in a ground-breaking…

Jan 27, 2022

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A woman who was employed as a practice manager by a consultant surgeon was dismissed after the pandemic caused a downturn in the practice’s financial position. After she launched proceedings, an ET found that the surgeon had decided to cut staffing costs and that the reason for her dismissal was redundancy.

However, the ET ruled that the surgeon’s failure to turn his mind to the impact of the flexible furlough scheme then in operation rendered her dismissal unfair. If she had been placed on furlough, the surgeon would have been able to bring her back to work part time whilst still having the right to claim government support providing 80 per cent of her pay for the hours she did not work.

Had he considered the furlough scheme and applied it to the woman, it was more likely than not that she would have worked part time and resumed her full-time position when the pandemic receded and the practice’s income picked up. His decision to make her redundant was, in those circumstances, unreasonable. If not agreed, the amount of her compensation would be decided at a further hearing.

School Inspector Sacked for Touching Pupil Succeeds in Unfair Dismissal Claim

It is obviously impractical for employers to have in place disciplinary policies that set out each and every form of frowned-upon conduct. However, as an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling showed, employees are generally entitled to some forewarning of the types of behaviour that may result in immediate dismissal. The case involved a school inspector who, during an inspection visit, encountered a group of pupils who had come in soaking from the rain. He brushed water from the hair or…

Exemplary Sales Assistant Succeeds in Pregnancy Discrimination Claim

There can be few things more harmful to an employer’s reputation than a finding that it has discriminated against a worker for being pregnant. In a damning decision, an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruled that an exemplary sales assistant was dismissed because of her employer’s reluctance to shoulder the cost of her maternity leave. The woman was a model employee who worked long hours, six days a week, for a retailer that paid her the minimum wage. During the 13 months she held her job, she was…

Financial Consultant Who Failed to Disclose Bankruptcy Fairly Dismissed

You would generally be right to think that what goes on in your life away from your workplace is nobody’s business but your own. In one case, however, a financial consultant’s failure to disclose his bankruptcy to his employer was ruled by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) to be a sufficient ground for dismissal. The man, who worked for an estate agency, was suffering financial difficulties after prolonged periods on sick leave and was declared bankrupt at his own behest. His bankruptcy came…