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Ask Employment Law |
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Remember: There is no substitute for legal advice on the actual
situation you find yourself in. The information posted on this site is for
general information only, is based on |
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Question: |
Can I be ‘bumped’ to
save someone else from redundancy? |
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Answer: |
An
example of ‘bumping’ is when Jo Blogg’s position is redundant, but you ‘bump’
out John Smith from another job, make him redundant instead and slot Jo
Bloggs into the position formerly occupied by John Smith. Another
example is when all the staff in a particular team or department are put at
risk of redundancy, and then have to compete for the remaining jobs within
the department. This
may seem unfair to the poor guy bumped out of a job but in more than one
reported case including Lionel
Leventhal Ltd v North in the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 2005, it was
expressly approved. In
Lionel Leventhal Ltd v North, Mr North was the company's most expensive
employee and was selected for redundancy as a cost saving measure, without
considering making any other member of staff redundant. N produced a list of
cost-cutting suggestions that did not involve compulsory redundancies.
However, L Ltd decided that these suggestions were not practical and
confirmed N's redundancy on 23 September 2003. The
EAT took the view that the company had not given proper consideration to
making an alternative position available to Mr North N by making another
employee redundant, either voluntarily or compulsorily. It can be unfair for
an employer to fail to consider offering alternative employment to a
potentially redundant employee, even in the absence of a vacancy. The
Tribunal should consider whether or not there is a vacancy; how different the
two jobs are; the difference in remuneration between them; the relative
length of service of the two employees; the qualifications of the employee in
danger of redundancy; and any other relevant factors which may apply in a
particular case. The
EAT held that there was no ‘hard and fast rule' that an employee willing to
accept a subordinate position should take the initiative in discussions with
management. Mr North’s silence with regard to his willingness to accept a
subordinate position did not necessarily provide the company with a defence
to the unfair dismissal allegation. It’s
worth noting however that this case does not establish that an employer must
consider bumping to avoid a finding of unfair dismissal. As the EAT points
out, the fairness of a failure to consider bumping will depend on the
circumstances. In
See
our page on a fair procedure for
redundancies Last
reviewed: July 2010 |
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Employment
Solicitor Reculver Solicitors Tel
0207 324 6271 Regulated
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ©
Reculver Solicitors. 2005- |
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