Redundancy Selection – Subjective Performance Assessment is Not Enough

Conducting a fair redundancy process requires a careful, almost forensic approach and it is almost never good enough for employers to rely on a subjective assessment of an employee’s past performance. An Employment Tribunal (ET) succinctly made that point in upholding an IT engineer’s unfair…

Dec 29, 2021

A small company needed to make cost savings due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and decided that one of its two IT engineers should be made redundant. A selection process was conducted whereby the engineers were scored on matters ranging from their technical skills to their drive and motivation and customer feedback about them. The engineer who scored lower was dismissed.

There was no dispute that a genuine redundancy situation had arisen. In upholding the man’s complaint, however, the ET found that there was a failure to consult with him meaningfully prior to his dismissal. There was only one consultation meeting, at an early stage in the process, and he was not informed of the full selection criteria. It was not explained to him how his score had been arrived at.

He had very little input into the inherently vague and unclear selection criteria. The end result depended largely on his boss’s subjective assessment. All the criteria, save for attendance levels, were based on her unchallengeable opinion as marker, rather than by reference to any objective evidence. She accepted that she had been influenced by factors that lay outside the strict ambit of the selection criteria, particularly his perceived reluctance to use MS Teams. He was not marked against the selection criteria as properly understood or applied appropriately.

The ET noted that the whole exercise was redolent of a dismissal for performance, capability and past conduct issues. The selection process was unreasonable in that it had, in effect, been used as a guise to weed out what the company considered to be a poor-performing employee. If not agreed, the amount of the man’s compensation would be assessed at a further hearing.

‘Long Covid’ Recognised as a Disability in Important Employment Ruling

Following recovery from the immediate effects of COVID-19, a substantial number of people have gone on to suffer from a phenomenon commonly known as ‘long Covid’. In an important ruling, an Employment Tribunal (ET) found that the condition is capable of amounting to a disability within the meaning of Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. The case concerned a charity worker who initially suffered mild, flu-like symptoms after contracting the virus. At the end of his isolation period, however, he…

Employment – Improper Behaviour in Pre-Termination Negotiations

Evidence concerning negotiations that take place prior to termination of employment are generally inadmissible in Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings. However, as a guideline decision showed, that rule can be disapplied where such negotiations are marred by improper behaviour on the part of one side or the other. An aesthetic nurse who worked for a cosmetic surgery practice was on maternity leave when she was informed that she was to be the subject of disciplinary proceedings. She denied any…

Time Limits in Employment Cases – Any Delay Could Stymie Your Claim

Time limits are strictly applied in employment cases and any failure to abide by them can place even an otherwise meritorious claim in real jeopardy. That was certainly so in the case of a call centre worker who lodged a sexual harassment complaint a single day later than she should have done. Following a hearing, an Employment Tribunal (ET) found that the woman had, on three separate occasions, been sexually harassed by her line manager. He had, amongst other things, pulled her waist during a…