Redundancy but job backfilled

marcusjames

Posting for a friend but I know most of the details.

A friend was notified of redundancy last week and offered statutory payout levels. His boss confirmed that the decision was not driven by his performance, in fact he has continually exceeded expectations. The claim was that his "face did not fit". They have also confirmed that the role would be immediately backfilled.

Based on the little I know about redundancy, this seems a little dubious to me. Can they truly classify this as redundancy if there is a clear backfill like for like?

In such situations, staying would be a little tense. What are the right steps to recommend a "golden handshake"? Are there any statutory calculations for buying an employee out of their contract?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

SarEl

There are no claculations for buying someone out. But if this is not a genuine redundancy then it would be an unfair dismissal. What do you mean by "the position will be backfilled" - this could mean any number of things. What exactly has happened?

marcusjames

They have told the guy that his job will be replaced. They have quoted redundancy in the letter, but I can't see how it is.

LittleVoice

If they will be using a current employee from elsewhere in the organisation to do the job and overall there are fewer employees after your friend has left then the company has dismissed him on the grounds of redundancy. That's fair grounds for dismissal.

jellynose

True redundancy is when a position has become redundant, not the person. How long has be worked for the company?

SarEl

LittleVoice wrote: »

If they will be using a current employee from elsewhere in the organisation to do the job and overall there are fewer employees after your friend has left then the company has dismissed him on the grounds of redundancy. That's fair grounds for dismissal.

This was the information I was trying to get at - what does backfilled actually mean. Which is why you need to tell us what actually happened.

EconomicsGirl

For redundancy you are only eligible for statutory redundancy pay unless there is more than that in your contract or your employer agrees to give you more. You have to have been employed more than 2 years to get this.

A genuine redundancy is when the job is redundant so it sounds dubious to me to but like you say staying could be more stress than its worth. The only other option is to talk to the employer and try and agree an enhanced settlement or make a claim for unfair dismissal - depends if he needs the reference or not. Even if the position was filled internally I would have thought he should have been told about this and given the option to apply.

LittleVoice

EconomicsGirl wrote: »

For redundancy you are only eligible for statutory redundancy pay unless there is more than that in your contract or your employer agrees to give you more. You have to have been employed more than 2 years to get this.

A genuine redundancy is when the job is redundant so it sounds dubious to me to but like you say staying could be more stress than its worth. The only other option is to talk to the employer and try and agree an enhanced settlement or make a claim for unfair dismissal - depends if he needs the reference or not. Even if the position was filled internally I would have thought he should have been told about this and given the option to apply.

It is a matter of work being done not a job ("bundle of work") in itself. Even if a job is retained exactly as it was, a holder of the role can be dismissed on the grounds of redundancy if another employee takes the job.

Though people like to say it is the job that is redundant, in reality it is the person who is surplus to requirements of the employer and therefore redundant. It doesn't sound nice but is the truth.

diable

Is the reason that his "face doesn't fit" due to your friends race, gender, religious disposition or sexual persuasions?