Redundancy -personal circumstances.

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tali
tali Posts: 709 Forumite
in Redundancy & redundancy planning
Are employers obliged to consider personal circumstances for redundancy -ie a single person more at risk than someone who has dependants?Also can length of service be ignored -or should that be factored in ?

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  • melysion
    melysion Posts: 801 Forumite
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    I certainly hope that personal circumstances aren't taken into account. I would hope that they are irrelevant to an employer. I'm sure its probably all about performance/reliability etc.
  • Another_not_new_user
    Another_not_new_user Posts: 511 Forumite
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    tali wrote: »
    Are employers obliged to consider personal circumstances for redundancy -ie a single person more at risk than someone who has dependants?Also can length of service be ignored -or should that be factored in ?

    Taking marital or familial circumstances into account would be discrimination and therefore unlawful.


    Length of service can be factored in but does not have to be - it is up to the employer what they choose as criteria provided the criteria are lawful.
  • tali
    tali Posts: 709 Forumite
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    melysion wrote: »
    I certainly hope that personal circumstances aren't taken into account. I would hope that they are irrelevant to an employer. I'm sure its probably all about performance/reliability etc.


    I could be argued that someone with dependants rather than someone single living at home is a far greater burden unemployed to the state and taxpayer ?
  • Another_not_new_user
    Another_not_new_user Posts: 511 Forumite
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    tali wrote: »
    I could be argued that someone with dependants rather than someone single living at home is a far greater burden unemployed to the state and taxpayer ?


    You may argue anything you like. If the employer argues it they will lose. It is called unlawful discrimination, and is really costly.
  • Takeaway_Addict
    Takeaway_Addict Posts: 6,538 Forumite
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    tali wrote: »
    I could be argued that someone with dependants rather than someone single living at home is a far greater burden unemployed to the state and taxpayer ?
    How is the employers issue?
    Don't trust a forum for advice. Get proper paid advice. Any advice given should always be checked
  • tali
    tali Posts: 709 Forumite
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    Takeaway_Addict wrote: »
    How is the employers issue?

    In that 2 employees have similar work records? (length of service/performance/reliability)
  • melysion
    melysion Posts: 801 Forumite
    edited 17 January 2015 at 10:22PM
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    tali wrote: »
    In that 2 employees have similar work records? (length of service/performance/reliability)

    No, sorry. Personal circumstances shouldn't even begin to come into it. If we want to play that game, a single person who loses their job is much more likely to find themselves destitute and homeless than a family as families get help (council homes for example) if they are evicted for not being able to pay the mortgage. Single people get no help in comparison (not all single people can go back home to mum and dad).

    I'm relieved to hear that employers cant discriminate against single people in this way. And why should employers concern themselves with who will be the bigger burden to the tax payer etc? It should just be a case of who is best for the job. Everything else is irrelevant.
  • RuthnJasper
    RuthnJasper Posts: 4,032 Forumite
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    Not in my experience. When I was made redundant some years ago, it was along with others in differing circumstances. I was single and poor and went down with colleagues who were wealthy older people and equally poor folk with dependent children and grandchildren.

    Work life is totally separate from home life.

    Best wishes to you OP. x
  • asajj
    asajj Posts: 5,123 Forumite
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    They don't have to and they shouldn't.
    ally.
  • WobblyDog
    WobblyDog Posts: 512 Forumite
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    I'm pretty sure in the UK it's illegal to take a employee's personal circumstances (dependents, etc.) into consideration, but I've heard rumours that it does sometimes happen informally in the company I work for.

    As an aside, in Germany, it's legal and to some extent compulsory to take these "Social Criteria" into account.
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