Unfair Redundancy - Appeal Lost

ihavedoneit

Hello All,

I have made some previous posts on the redundancy but in summary: partner made redundant, decision appealed, appeal has come back saying everything was carried out fairly and the redundancy still stands.

One of the main reasons for the appeal was my partner was made redundant based on a scoring criteria (no interviews, no HR involved). The people at risk were given their final scores and were told they could either wait a week to be told who has scored the lowest (so is out) or they could discuss it between them so they knew in advance. They discussed it the same day as they all wanted to know.

During the whole process my partner has not been given any breakdown of how the final score was reached, despite it being requested in writing on several occasions. This seems really unfair as how do we know what they have scored on and if the scoring is just ? For example, when pressed on this my partner was told by management they didn't score on a particular skill as their colleague did the task. My partner did the exact task and is fully up to speed with it. It just so happens it is now the role of a colleague. When this is obviously scored wrongly it makes you wonder what else is wrong ?

Questions....should they provide a full breakdown of the score and is the fact they haven't enough to take this further (ET) ? There are other unfair issues as well but this is the most significant. We don't want to flog a dead horse and would be happy to accept and move on, but the fact no-one is providing any answers to the very valid reasons for appeal is bugging us (cover up ?).

Opinions welcome !

Thanks.

Jarndyce

ihavedoneit wrote: »

Questions....should they provide a full breakdown of the score and is the fact they haven't enough to take this further (ET) ? There are other unfair issues as well but this is the most significant. We don't want to flog a dead horse and would be happy to accept and move on, but the fact no-one is providing any answers to the very valid reasons for appeal is bugging us (cover up ?).

Opinions welcome !

Thanks.

Yes they should have provided you with your score, but not those of the other candidates. The law requires that you have the opportunity to contest your selection, and there is case law that a refusal to disclose scores renders the internal appeal process a sham. Whether in your case the failure to provide a breakdown, as opposed to the overall score which they did provide, would constitute a similar breach will depend on the details of the scoring system in your case.

So whilst you may on the face of it have a potential ET claim for unfair selection simply on the failure to provide the score breakdown, you will need to see an employment lawyer and go through the details for them to give you a clearer idea as to the merits of such a claim.

SarEl

I would agree - whilst not providing the breakdown scoring is incorrect, if this is your best piece of evidence it isn't altogether a smoking gun. Selection processes do not have to be base on interviews, and nor do HR have to be involved. You need to get your potential claim assessed to determine whether it is worth fighting.

mooks

Jarndyce wrote: »

there is case law that a refusal to disclose scores renders the internal appeal process a sham.

Jarndyce - do you have a link or any more information about this case? I was made redundant as part of a restructure and the employer refused to provide scores - they even told me at the appeal meeting that I was expected to show where I scored higher, but without giving me the scores I wasn't able to prepare a case.

ihavedoneit - my ET is happening in a little over 6 weeks - if you want to have a chat about things, as there are some similarities, feel free to drop me a message.

Jarndyce

mooks wrote: »

Jarndyce - do you have a link or any more information about this case? I was made redundant as part of a restructure and the employer refused to provide scores - they even told me at the appeal meeting that I was expected to show where I scored higher, but without giving me the scores I wasn't able to prepare a case.

If you look up Pinewood Repro Ltd v. Page [2010] UKEAT off the top of my head that is a recent one which I think confirms the same point. I'll uypdate again tomorrow when I've got access to Lexis and books.

mooks

Jarndyce I could kiss you... Thank you - but I should skulk away rather than derail this thread...

londoner1998

Hello
I posted what I intended to be a new thread as part of another by mistake- can someone please remove my post above? I am sorry, didn't intend to hijack the thread...

x

ETA- I already deleted it myself

ihavedoneit

Thanks All - sorry for late reply. Had no computer access. Will ponder what to do over the weekend.