Following the recent High Court Case new proposals in relation to JLC/REA's have been made by the government:
24-Nov-10 at 18.17 | Resolve HR Admin
Following today's decision to reduce the Minimum Wage rate to €7.65. The Government has signalled that the ERO and REA rates should be reviewed. In particular the Catering,...

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Mar 8, 2009

Redundancy or Unfair Dismissal!!


A recent decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has highlighted once again the potential risks that employers face when making staff redundant. In the case of Lyons v. Grangemore Landscapes Limited (UD 541/2008) 2 Dec 08, the EAT focused on whether the claimant’s position was genuinely redundant.

The Company claimed that due to financial difficulties the claimant’s position as an engineer was made redundant in January 2008 and that his job function was no longer being carried out. However the Company subsequently employed an engineer in June 2008. This new employee had identical qualifications to the claimant and the claimant was not considered for this position.

The EAT were influenced by the fact that no consideration was given to the possibility of offering the claimant another role before making him redundant. The EAT also placed emphasis on the fact that a new employee, who had identical qualifications to the claimant, was employed by the respondent company “within a few weeks” of the claimant’s dismissal. In all the circumstances the EAT was not satisfied that a legitimate redundancy situation arose in the company insofar as the claimant’s position was concerned and that the claimant could have carried out the work that the new employee had been employed to do. The EAT found that as no legitimate redundancy situation arose and the claimant was unfairly dismissed and awarded him €17,500.00 under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2001.

Employers making redundancies must follow fair procedures at all times or else they may face claims for unfair dismissals even where a genuine redundancy exists. Measures must also be taken to try to try and preserve positions. Where an employee’s position is at risk of being made redundant proper consideration should always be given to any alternative roles in the organisation, even if the ultimate decision is that the employee is not suitable for the role. The employer should also give due consideration to any other cost cutting or organisational change proposals put forward by the impacted employee.  

 

To reduce risk of liability when making redundancies employers should have detailed, well drafted redundancy procedures and policies in place to ensure fair procedures are followed. A basic requirement is that a meeting take place with the employee to discuss any alternatives to redundancy. As per normal workplace practises it is essential that details of the meeting are put to the employee in writing. For further information on Redundancies and Lay Off’s please CONTACT US