The importance of a fair redundancy process

The last 12 months have not been easy for the business sector.

One consequence of COVID-19 is that many employers are likely to assess their staff numbers this year. With revenue having taken a hit during the crisis, many are likely to be facing decisions around headcounts and possible redundancies.

As well as being a tough situation for a business to find itself in, making redundancies is also one of the most technical areas of employment law. If you don’t comply with the law during a redundancy process, the penalties can be severe.

Is there a genuine redundancy situation?

The first question to ask is does a genuine redundancy situation exist? Deciding that you want to restructure your business does not necessarily mean that a genuine redundancy situation exists. You must have evidence to demonstrate that a genuine redundancy situation exists before beginning a redundancy process.

The most common reasons for redundancies tend to be:

  • Financial difficulties.
  • Technical advances (a new technology means less employees are needed to do the same amount of work).
  • Closure of the business.
  • Demand for the employer’s goods or service decreases causing a shortage of work.

Once you have established that there is a genuine redundancy situation, you need to ensure that:

  • The employee had the benefit of fair procedures prior to the dismissal.
  • The selection process was fair.

Employees who have reason to question any of these procedural steps may seek to pursue an unfair dismissal claim.

Redundancy risks

There are significant financial risks for employers who fail to comply with redundancy law. We look at a recent example below.

WRC decision: the expensive consequences of a poorly run redundancy process

The employee worked as an accounts administrator in a hotel. She was the victim of harassment and alleged that the general manager had sent her inappropriate texts. Upon raising the issue, subsequent payroll errors and omissions that affected her salary occurred. Shortly after these incidents, the general manager made her position redundant and she received all redundancy and notice payments owed to her.

The employee provided evidence that her role was advertised soon after her redundancy. Her claim queried whether her redundancy was genuine, why she was the only staff member made redundant, and the objective basis for her selection.

After examining both sides’ submissions, the Adjudication Officer found no evidence that the employer had:

It was apparent no objective standards were applied to select the employee for redundancy. The Adjudication Officer in turn ruled that the employee was unfairly selected. As an employee working in the hotel sector, she failed to find another job during the pandemic and was unable to mitigate her loss.

She was awarded compensation of €60,000, almost two years’ salary, to take account of both the loss suffered and future loss.

The importance of a genuine redundancy situation

A restructuring situation can often be cited as justification for redundancies. However, a restructure must not be used to manufacture a redundancy situation. There must always be evidence to support your argument that a genuine redundancy situation exists. A thorough redundancy process, based on fair procedures, must then precede the termination of employment. This is crucial as the above case shows that the costs of getting it wrong could cripple your business.

The recent WRC decision also highlights the benefits of having a documented redundancy procedure in place. This policy document should detail the notification, consultation, and selection process that any final redundancy decisions will be based on.

Need our help handling redundancies?

For further advice handling redundancies, speak to an expert now on 01 886 0350 or request a callback here.

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Latest Resources

St Patrick’s Day: Have you prepared for absenteeism?

Published: March 20th 2024 Following national celebrations and public holidays like St Patrick’s day, you could find yourself down several staff members. And – as […]

What Employees Are Entitled to a Public Holiday Benefit & How Are Benefits Calculated?

public holiday
Published: March 20th 2024 From Easter Monday to St Patrick’s Day, Ireland gets ten public holidays and, with them, public holiday benefits. But what if […]

What happens when workplace romances go wrong

workplace romances gone wrong
First published: February 14th 2024 Last updated: February 14th 2024 Love makes the world go round, or so they say. But what effect does love […]

Olga Shevchenko

Director/Advocate, Immigration Advice Bureau

Olga Shevchenko specialises in immigration advocacy and consultancy, in particular, employment permit, visas, family reunification, citizenship, etc, for those seeking to visit, reside or invest in Ireland.

Olga provides extensive information, knowledge, and support to her clients, enabling access to positive solutions for people struggling to handle the immigration law.

Minister Neale Richmond

Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Neale Richmond TD was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Business and the Department of Social Protection in January 2023.

Much of his work at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is with businesses, workers, their representative bodies and the State Agencies to ensure that the economic recovery and growth extends to all parts of the country. He works closely with the SME sector, including retail, on building resilience and on the transition to the green and digital economies.

Mark Carpenter

Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Sky

Mark Carpenter is Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at Sky Ireland. In this role he has responsibility for External and Internal Communications, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs and the company’s ‘Bigger Picture’ (CSR) programme. He also works closely with Sky Group teams on a variety of matters, in particular our partnerships with domestic broadcasters.

Prior to working at Sky, Mark worked as a Policy Officer in Houses of the Oireachtas and as a Management Consultant at Accenture. He has a BA in History from Oxford University and a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Nora Cashe

Litigation and Compliance Manager, Peninsula

Nóra studied Law in Griffith College Dublin and qualified as a Barrister in 2008, practising in the area of Criminal law. She is also member of the Irish Employment Law Association.

Nora has extensive experience representing clients at Employment Tribunal hearings, Conciliation / Mediation meetings before both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. 

Nóra is a member of the Irish Employment Law Association and engages with the WRC Adjudication Service as part of their stakeholder engagement forum.

Deiric McCann

Managing Director, Genos International Europe

Deiric McCann leads Genos International Europe – The EU division of a world-leading provider of emotional intelligence solutions. 

With over two decades experience at the highest levels of management, Deiric supports clients to develop the resilience, emotional intelligence, psychological safety and engagements of their employees.

Rhiannon Coyne

Senior HR Consultant, Graphite HRM

Rhiannon Coyne is a Senior HR Consultant at Graphite HRM and will be providing an overview of best practice on how to deal with complaints of bullying and harassment in the workplace. 

With a number of recent updates to employment laws, Rhiannon will take a closer look at employment equality and how it is interlinked to Health & Safety and what employers can learn from recent case laws.

David Begg

Chairman, Workplace Relations Commission

David Begg was appointed Chairperson of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in January 2021.

David is also a professor at Maynooth University Institute of Social Sciences. Mr Begg’s extensive history in the trade union movement included leading the ESB Officers Association and Irish Congress of Trade Unions, stepping away from the latter in 2001 to chair international aid agency Concern.

David Begg was also previously a director of the Central Bank of Ireland between 1995 and 2010.