The Law of Redundancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Law of Redundancy - Essay Example Redundancy on the basis of gender, age, and the other elements are classifiable as unfair dismissal. Employers use a number of fair and objective ways to select employees for redundancy, which include last in, first out basis, use of disciplinary records, and self-selection by asking for volunteers and markings of staff appraisal, for instance, experience, qualifications, and skills. In addition, employees are allowed to select employees for redundancy if the employees’ jobs no longer exist. In such an instance, the employer can make employees redundant without necessarily following the selection process (Curtis & McMullen 1997, p. 154). When an employee is dismissed from work by reason of redundancy, the employee is legally entitled to a statutory payment for redundancy from the employer. If the employer (Wolsey Engineering Ltd) fails to pay, the employee can claim the statutory redundancy payment through an Employment Tribunal (Duggan 2012, p. 67). The entire redundancy proc ess should be impartial, consisting of, among others, consultation, redundancy payment and notice periods.   Notice periods are crucial to ensure dismissal legality. Notice periods are given prior to the termination of employment. Employment laws require employers to give a notice period of at least one week for those employed between one month and two years, one week’s notice for each year if the employee worked between two and 12 years and 12 weeks’ notice for those employed for 12 years or more (Income Data Service (IDS) 2008, p. 57). In addition to statutory payment for redundancy, employers should pay a notice payment by either paying the redundant employees through their notice periods or pay in lieu of notice. In the latter instance, notice payments must be equal to the to the employees’ basic pay plus whatever amount they would have earned during the notice period (Marsh & Soulsby 2002, p. 74). Employees made redundant are entitled to appropriate periods of consultation with the employer. Such consultation includes speaking to employees regarding the reasons for their redundancy and available alternatives to redundancy (McMullen 2011, p. 91). Employees are permissible to claim to an employment tribunal if the employer fails to consult effectively, for instance, if the employers start late or fail to consult altogether. Collective redundancies of at least 20 employees require consultation between the employer and an employee representative. There is no definite limit to the length of consultation although minimum lengths are in place for more than 20 redundancies (Mellahi & Wilkinson 2004, p. 251). In essence, in order to ascertain legality, the employer should consider plausible alternative employment for all employees prior to declaring the redundant.