How to decide which employees to include in a redundancy pool

Author: Lavina Daryanani

Summary

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• Be aware that, although redundancy is a potentially fair reason for the dismissal of an employee, a dismissal may be held to be unfair if the employer fails to adopt a reasonable redundancy procedure.
• Adhere to any customary or agreed arrangements, or, if there are none, ensure that there is a reasonable basis for deciding which employees to include in the pool.
• Consider for inclusion in the pool employees who undertake the same or similar roles in other parts of the business or at other sites, and employees whose work is interchangeable with those at risk of redundancy.
• Consider the appropriateness of including in the pool for selection the employees of any associated companies who carry out the same or similar functions to the employees at risk of redundancy.
• Take into account the possibility of "bumping" redundancies as a way of retaining senior and longer-serving employees.
• Do not select employees for redundancy because of their fixed-term or part-time status, unless their selection can be objectively justified. Include these employees in the pool for selection along with permanent and full-time staff.
• Consider ways to minimise the number of redundancies required in the business, for example by terminating the services provided by contractors and agency workers.