A fair redundancy procedure will involve the employer taking reasonable steps to genuinely consider whether employees can be offered suitable alternative employment.
Hendy Group (HG) v Kennedy (K) [2024] EAT
Facts
K worked for HG a well-known car dealership since 2013. He was employed as a training manager in 2015, before securing this position he had over 10 years’ experience in car sales.
Following the covid pandemic his role as training manager was identified as being at risk of redundancy. K accepted his role was at risk and that there was a genuine redundancy situation.
Despite this he successfully claimed unfair dismissal arguing the redundancy process was flawed and was awarded £19,566.73 in compensation.
EAT decision
The EAT decided that HG had failed to make reasonable attempts to identify and consider suitable alternative employment for K.
Notable failings included:
Restricted access to internal vacancies: K was only able to view job opportunities as an external applicant, significantly limiting his access to potential redeployment roles.
Lack of support in role identification: There was no meaningful assistance provided to K in identifying suitable internal vacancies or exploring alternative employment opportunities.
Unreasonable pressure and questioning of motives: K was informed that if he continued to make unsuccessful job applications, they would be rejected, implying his efforts were not genuine and casting doubt on his intentions.
Ineffective communication channels: HR communicated important information to K using an email account he could not access, impairing his ability to receive timely and relevant updates.
Failure to notify relevant managers: Other managers were not informed that K was at risk of redundancy, limiting opportunities for them to consider him for available roles within their teams.
Lack of evidenced redeployment efforts: There was no documented evidence to demonstrate reasonable efforts were made to identify and offer K suitable alternative roles.
Our comment
This case serves as a reminder to employers to ensure they follow the principles of fairness when considering suitable employment in a redundancy situation. Employers need to:
- Proactively identify suitable alternative employment.
- Ensure they have meaningful discussions with those at risk about suitable employment.
- Encourage and provide support with job applications.
- Ensure managers across the business are aware of those at risk of redundancy as they may be able to consider them for alternative employment.
- Ensure they have documentary evidence to show they have actively sourced suitable employment.
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