How to choose and apply redundancy selection criteria

Author: Elizabeth Stevens and Stephen Chegwin

Summary

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• Understand the role of a redundancy selection matrix to carry out a scoring exercise for each employee in the redundancy pool.
• Check whether contractual redundancy selection criteria apply to the redundancy exercise.
• Ensure that, as far as possible, selection criteria are objective and measurable and not based on subjective opinion.
• Consider what skills and experience are most relevant for the job and ensure that the criteria reflect the requirements of the job.
• Consult employees on the selection criteria and scoring method.
• When assessing performance, where possible base scores on quantifiable factors such as sales figures or on recent appraisals and performance reviews.
• Be careful when using absence levels as a criterion. A failure to discount absences related to, for example, disability or maternity is likely to be discriminatory.
• Do not rely on "last in, first out" as the sole criterion for selection, as this is likely to be indirectly discriminatory on the grounds of age and potentially sex.
• Where possible, ensure that scores are moderated by more than one person to guard against bias.
• Make sure that employees identified as being at risk of redundancy are provided with their own score (as a minimum) and fully consulted on it prior to the final decision being made.