Selection for Redundancy
An Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) have found that a decision to dismiss an employee on grounds of redundancy based on her performance in a competitive interview process was unfair.
In Gwynedd Council v Barratt the local authority decided to close the secondary school at which Ms Barratt was employed, and create a new school (combined with others which were also closed) on the same site. The selection process consisted entirely of a competitive interview process – in Ms Barratt’s case she was essentially being interviewed for her own job of P.E. Teacher. She was unsuccessful in her application and was dismissed on grounds of redundancy.
An Employment Tribunal held that Ms Barratt’s dismissal was unfair. Key to this was that she was not given a right of appeal against the decision to dismiss her, despite this being a specific requirement in Regulations applicable to maintained schools in Wales. There was also no consultation with Ms Barratt about the redundancy situation.
The EAT agreed with the Tribunal that Ms Barratt’s dismissal was unfair. The EAT said that the Tribunal was entitled to find in this case, that the use of a recruitment-style interview was an inappropriate method by which to select for redundancy. This was not a situation where employees were being asked to apply for new roles in a structure which were substantially different from the old ones, and where the employer needed to consider the employees’ suitability for the new roles. This was, instead, a case where the employer was simply deciding from a pool of employees performing identical roles, who to make redundant.
Of course, this case does not mean that using interviews in a redundancy selection exercise will always result in dismissals being unfair. This remains a valid method of selection in appropriate cases. It’s clear from this case, however, that employers must show the criteria on which employees were selected and how those assessments were made. Relying solely on an employee’s performance in a job interview, without any proper assessment of their actual performance at work – particularly where the new role is similar – is unlikely to be adequate.
For advice on redundancy or any other employment law issue, please contact Marie Allen on 01473 298126 or email [email protected].
