Getting redundancy process right...

The Employment Relations Authority has dismissed a claim for unjustified dismissal following a redundancy process of a Senior Manager.  Prior to the redundancy process the employee made redundant had raised complaints about the Manager who was one of the people carrying out the redundancy process and those complaints had been dealt with by the company and a resolution reached.  The employee had been told that if any further problems arose he was to discuss those or report them to Senior Management.  He did not raise any further issues or complaints.  However, as part of the redundancy process he alleged that the earlier incidents meant that he did not receive a fair consideration for the position he applied for.

The ERA rejected those complaints as there was no evidence of predetermination or bias.  The ERA held that the employer had followed a fair and proper process and had made fair decisions in relation to the redundancy.  This included having a good business decision for the redundancy and putting a proposed restructure to the employee and giving them the opportunity to take advice and to comment on the proposal before any decisions were made.  The employee did take advice but did not bring their representative to the meetings.  They also made very limited comments on the restructuring proposal.

When the employee applied for one of the new positions they were not successful and another employee whose position was also made redundant was appointed to that role.  The ERA held that the employer was justified in making the decision to appoint the other employee because of their greater skill and competencies for the role.

This case is an example of the employee getting both its business justification and its process right when carrying out a redundancy process and the ERA held that the employer had acted as a fair and reasonable employer in the circumstances.

Alan Knowsley

Employment Lawyer Wellington