Unfair dismissal claim

markus_1986

Hi sorry if this is in the wrong section.
Im currently in the process of an unfair dismissal claim against my previous employer. In short myself and other scaffolders were downmanned from a offshore oil platform and some were up manned 2 days later with me being moved out of my position by a matrix system to accommodate somebody who had the same matrix score as myself and the company stated that when scores are tied it goes on how long you’ve been employed by the company. I was made redundant whilst at least one other scaffolder who was also down manned had the same matrix as myself and less time working for the company and he wasn’t made redundant and still currently works for the company. There is also other people they didn’t use the matrix system on who were in the project. The preliminary hearing is the 31st of August. Just wondered if anyone had any advice on my case. Thanks 

Comms69

Nowhere near enough info. The fact they used a matrix system suggest they know what theyre doing. 

KiKi

Criteria for redundancy selection is notoriously difficult.  An organisation should select appropriate criteria to make the decision, but they don't have to score, and even with scoring, there will be judgement used to make the final decision.  What you'd need to establish is whether they failed to follow their own policies and processes around this (eg, a redundancy policy that categorically states that the highest scorers in the matrix will stay).  You also need to be very careful that you know the reasons why other decisions were made.  Eg, your colleague with less time in role - how do you know they had the same score?  Have you seen the scoring?  Or has he applied for and taken a different job?  The people for whom the matrix wasn't used may not have been in the pool for redundancy if their jobs weren't the same as yours; or in a different roles they may have made the decisions in a different way (eg, without a matrix) so that could be easily explained.

Unless the criteria used were discriminatory (which doesn't seem to be what you're contesting) or unless they have failed to follow their own policies and processes and you can prove this, I think you may struggle on this one.  Ultimately a tribunal won't get involved in a case where you just believe the wrong decision was made.   Also - what do you want out of it?  Are they really going to re-employ you after you've taken them to court?  Be clear what your expectations are.

Hopefully there will be someone with more experience of the hearing who can advise you.

Savvy_Sue

If you're in a trade union, get onto them.