Peninsula Matrix - any info?

coupleuk

My brother-in-law has received a letter from his employer stating that they are looking at redundancies.

The state that they're consulting their "HR legal advisors" Peninsula (who I believe are a firm of HR solicitors).

A Scoring Matrix is to be used to identify potential candidates.

Ive searched the internet and cannot find a copy of this matrix - which i find a bit suprising.

Has anyone got a copy please? (or a link to one).

Thanks

Jarndyce

coupleuk wrote: »

My brother-in-law has received a letter from his employer stating that they are looking at redundancies.

The state that they're consulting their "HR legal advisors" Peninsula (who I believe are a firm of HR solicitors).

A Scoring Matrix is to be used to identify potential candidates.

Ive searched the internet and cannot find a copy of this matrix - which i find a bit suprising.

Has anyone got a copy please? (or a link to one).

Thanks

There may well be an example of a Peninsula matrix out there, but there is no guarantee that it will be the same one that will be used here (although knowing Peninsula - who by and large are not solicitors by the way - it probably will be).

The staff will (or at least should) be told in due course what the scoring criteria are going to be so they just need to be patient.

coupleuk

The criteria is

attendance
discipline record
performance
aptitude, attitude, adaptability

But how do they actually score these things?

attendance is straight forward I guess

discipline record is another easy one - but how far back do they go?

performance - he's never had an appraisal in 8 years so its hard to know what his performance is against other staff

aptitude etc are just personal views of management - how can they actually be "scored"

confused !!

Jarndyce

Yes you could say that the last two criteria are quite subjective, especially where there has been no appraisal etc. That is the way of the world I'm afraid. Providing the employer doesn't do anything blatantly discriminatory or unfair (or stupid), they will be able to manipulate the scores as they wish.

coupleuk

Should the employer ask for voluntary redundancies before going down the compulsary route?

He's told me that they are looking for 3 redundancies and he knows 2 staff who actually want to go, but management aren't aware of (yet).

If 2 want to go, can the company refuse to let them go and fire 3 others instead or should voluntary posts be used first?

Also, does his union have to be officially recognised at his workplace before a rep can attend an interview with him or is he entitled to take his trade union rep with him?

Uncertain

coupleuk wrote: »

Also, does his union have to be officially recognised at his workplace before a rep can attend an interview with him or is he entitled to take his trade union rep with him?

If the meeting is one where you have a legal right to be accompanied then it is irrelevant whether the union is recognized at the workplace or not.

If it is a less formal meeting where there is no right to be accompanied then the employer can make whatever rules they like if they choose to allow more than the law requires.

SarEl

If some people want to volunteer they should say so! But management don't have to agree and there is no legal right to be made redundant, so it is up to the employer. But the employer may equally be happy to accept volunteers if it makes life easier. They won't know until they ask!

Needhelpsaving

I have used Penninsula before - they advise on employment law issues. The 'matrix' you are looking for doesn't exist. They will merely advise on the fairest points to include when selecting for redundancy (usually, Length of service, absence record, disciplinaries etc) these are fairly standard for any company - the company does not have to accept the advice.

I think that the employer is hidding ebhind Penninsula.

They are usually quite fair, as if they don't advise correctly, they cover the cost of the ET - it's kind of an insurance and advice rolled into one.

*I don't work for Penninsula, but have come across them when working for a national company*

p.s. the company should normally consult with employees on the matrix they are proposing to use - before they use it - so if your BIL has any concerns he should raise them.

LeanneGH

NeedHelpSaving is right that Peninsula wlil have given generic (and having used them it should be pretty sound) advice on what to consider putting into the matrix. But it is up to the employer to then make that specific to the company and job roles under threat.

Asking for clarification on how the scoring will be applied is a perfectly reasonable question for your BIL to ask as part of the consultation process. However bear in mind it just has to be 'fair' i.e non-discriminatory, relevant to the job role, applied the same to everyone etc, employees don't necessary have to agree or like the answer.

Ideally scoring performance or aptitude would be based on recorded evidence e.g production statistics (how many widgets can he make in an hour), customer feedback surveys, team or peer reviews, quality or accuracy records (how many widgets were rejects), or qualifications held. Adaptablity might be measured based on multi skilling and how many tasks or duties an employee can do out of those possible. These are just examples - your BIL and colleagues would have to put some thought into what is most appropropriate for the jobs they do.

Having said this, the employer might decide to use simple manager based scores, say a score out of 5 or 10. When I have advised on using this sort of approach I always ask them 'how would you justify this if challenged'. Sometimes 'proof' is quite difficult as obviously some jobs or particular tasks are much easier to measure objectively than others and manager assessment is a perfectly legitimate method. So as part of the consultation process employees can (and should) suggest the measures they believe should be used for selection.

You asked about disciplinary record and how far back they go. In my experience usually only current warnings are 'officially' considered relevant, which for most people means max 12 months (or it would probably have resulted in dismissal not a warning).

The employer may have already considered and rejected VR but as SarEl said, it is always worth asking if this is an option.

Hope this helps.