Making someone redundant

[jamoor]

We need to make someone redundant, we have a member of staff who is a warehouse picker and packer we have a member of staff who is a driver and helps with picking and packing, we now need someone who has the experience to repair the products we also sell when they come back faulty from customers.

Noone who works at our company has the knowledge or experience to repair the products so we can't train him, there are also no training courses available anywhere to repair these products.

What I am looking to do is make this guy redundant and hire someone to repair products and help with the picking and packing.

Is this legal?

 

[yorkshirejames]

On the face of it, yes it is legal. However your aggrieved employee will consider this unfair dismissal.

Can you _really_ not train for the new role?

Are you making both existing people redundant, or just one? Write a new jobspec for the new role, then see objectively how your existing people compare.

 

[jamoor]

On the face of it, yes it is legal. However your aggrieved employee will consider this unfair dismissal.

Can you _really_ not train for the new role?

Are you making both existing people redundant, or just one? Write a new jobspec for the new role, then see objectively how your existing people compare.

Training for the new role is pretty much impossible, I cannot find a training course anywhere as the product is extremely specialist.

How long do employees have to claim for unfair dismissal?

 

[LimeHR]

You are not permitted to make an individul redundant employers make a specific job role redundant and then restructure the jobs available. The selection process for redundancy needs to be followed very carefully as a redundancy is a dismissal and can trigger a claim if not handled properly. You will need to consider if there are any other roles for this worker or alternatives to redundancy at all ie the product repairs being done elsewhere before commencing the process to avoid the risks to your business. We can assist further with this and have extensive experience in assisting businesses with redundancy programmes.

 

[jamoor]

Hmm,
Do you know how long it is until the employee can file a claim?

 

[LimeHR]

The employee would have normally 3 months less one day to bring their claim before an employment tribunal, however there are exceptions to this rule which extend the time limit available in redundancy cases for example and also where there grievance process is underway.

 

[sjbeale]

You need to look at developing job descriptions first as part of a re-structure before considering the redundancy process.

I would get some HR or legal advice before then proceeding.

 

[Airia]

How long have they worked for you? this may assist you in what you need to do if under a certain time