Employee Claims for Unfair Dismissal After Volunteering for Redundancy
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found a Tribunal was wrong to strike out a claim for unfair dismissal because the claimant had volunteered for redundancy.
Claimant Volunteered for Redundancy
In the case of White v HC-One Oval Ltd, Ms White was employed part-time as a receptionist at a care home run by HC-One Oval Ltd. HC-One proposed to reduce the number of receptionist and administrative staff in the care home and Ms White was provisionally selected for redundancy. Ms White ultimately volunteered for redundancy.
After the end of her employment Ms White lodged a claim for unfair dismissal alleging that the redundancy process had not been genuine. She relied on various procedural failures and the fact that she had lodged a grievance prior to the start of the process. HC-One denied these allegations.
The Employment Tribunal (ET) held that Ms White's claim had no reasonable prospect of success because she had volunteered for redundancy, so her employer could automatically establish the reason and reasonableness of the dismissal. The ET made no findings of fact on the matters in dispute. Ms White appealed on the basis that the ET had erred in law in its decision.
Voluntary Redundancy and the Importance of a Fair Process
Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal, but the employer still needs to follow a reasonable process in order to dismiss fairly on the grounds of redundancy. These steps include consultation with employees, a fair selection pool, locating alternative employment within the company and offering alternatives to compulsory redundancy, such as voluntary redundancy. If an employee agrees to take voluntary redundancy, they are voluntarily dismissed by way of redundancy - they have not resigned.
The EAT's Decision
The EAT allowed Ms White's appeal. The ET's conclusion appeared to assume that every voluntary redundancy is automatically fair and the EAT determined that this was incorrect as a matter of law.
The EAT referred to case law which sets out that where the reason for dismissal is in dispute, it would usually be determined at a full merits hearing and a claim would not generally be struck out with central facts in dispute.
In this case, there was a dispute between the parties as to history predating the dismissal and the ET heard no evidence and made no findings regarding that history. The factual dispute was not suitable for summary determination and the EAT therefore remitted the case to the Tribunal for consideration.
What This Means for Employers
It is important for employers to understand that even where an employee volunteers for redundancy, they retain all their usual employment rights and can bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Employers should therefore ensure a fair process is followed in every circumstance.