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LPC Law Notes Employment Law Notes

Redundancy Notes

Updated Redundancy Notes

Employment Law Notes

Employment Law

Approximately 388 pages

A collection of the best LPC Employment notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (a former Oxford law graduate) could find in 2014 after combing through seventeen LPC samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of Employment Law notes available in the UK this year. This collection of notes is full...

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The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Employment Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Redundancy

Redundancy Payments

  • Eligibility (burden of proof on employee)

    • within time limit (6 months [-1day] from termination)

    • at least 2 years' service (continuous)

    • not excluded class

  • Dismissal

    • actual

    • constructive

    • non-renewal at end of fixed-term contract

  • Redundancy

    • job redundancy (entire business closed)

    • employee redundancy (position closed)

    • place of work redundancy (where did they work)

    • did the redundancy situation cause the dismissal?

    • was previous/alternative job offered back?

    • was the offer unreasonably refused or terminated?

  • Payment Calculation

    • age factor x final week's gross pay (below stat min) x number of full years continuous service

  • Other Claims

    • consider possibility of unfair/wrongful dismissal claims

STATE THE CLAIM BEING MADE - REDUNDANCY

An eligible employee, dismissed by reason of redundancy, will be entitled, at a minimum, to a statutory redundancy payment by his employer (ERA 1996, s 163). Claimant must be an employee, have been dismissed, have the requisite period of continuous employment and not be within an excluded class.

Is the claimant eligible for a redundancy payment? (burden of proof on claimant)

TIME LIMITS

  • Must be within time limits – 6 months (less 1 day) from EDT (effective date of Termination)
MUST BE AN ‘EMPLOYEE’

  • An individual who works under a contract of employment (s.230(1))

  • Not self-employed workers
HAVE THE REQUISITE PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS EMPLOYMENT PRIOR TO DISMISSAL

  • Two years continuous employment at the date of termination (s.108)

    • The effective date of termination is calculated in the same way as for unfair dismissal (s.145)

      • Notice periods apply to the calculation of the time served (s.97)

e.g. Mary commenced work just under 2 years ago and is just one week short of having two years service – her contract provides that she must be given two weeks’ notice

  • Part-time staff have equal rights with full-time

  • There are no age limits
NOT BE FROM AN EXCLUDED CLASS

  • Minority of cases:

    • Mariners

    • Domestic servant & a relative of the employer
PRECEDENT

  • [NAME] is an employee as they have an employment contract (s.230(1)).

  • They have the requisite period of continuous employment as [NAME] commenced work [YEARS] ago.

  • [NAME] is not part of an excluded class.

  • [NAME]’ employment was terminated on [DATE] therefore [he/she] would have to bring claim within 6 months (less one day) by midnight [DATE].’

Has the employee been dismissed?

Have been dismissed (s.136(1))

  • ACTUAL DISMISSAL

On the facts, [EMPLOYEE] was [DIMISSAL] therefore he has been actually dismissed without notice.

  • TERMINATION OF A FIXED TERM CONTRACT

  • EXPIRY OF THE CONTRACT UPON COMPLETION OF THE TASK

  • CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL –( resigns due to employer repudiatory breach)

‘On the facts, [EMPLOYER] has…

(check any clauses for guidance on whether it could be argued that the reason is ok)

  • Reduction in salary (express term of contract

  • Change in job description (helpline worker now not a trainer, differences in the jobs i.e. no more face-to-face customer contact)

  • Change of contractual hours (does contract permit this) (Temp change not perm) (unsocial hours – 7pm finish)

  • Removal of a bonus

  • Transferring power to another on a permanent basis when employee is away is a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence

  • Not receiving a pay rise when all his colleagues have – breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence

This is a repudiatory (not minor) breach of [express or implied] terms of the contract which will entitle [EMPLOYEE] to resign (without or without notice) and discharge the contract for constructive dismissal (Western Excavating).

[EMPLOYEE] has a good chance despite it being difficult to prove. [EMPLOYEE] [DID/MUST] resign within a reasonable time of the breach [DATE EXAMPLE].

  • Minor breaches wont justify a resignation unless ‘last straw’, which is the last of many minor breaches, resignation may be justified as employers conduct is looked at as a whole (Abbey National v Robinson)

(a) Is there a redundancy situation? (ERA 1996, s.139)

DEFINITION

  • Look at the actual situation rather than what the contract says S.139(1) ERA

    • Where the business ceases to operate

    • Where the business ceases to operate in the place where the employee is employed

    • Where the employer no longer needs as many employees
‘JOB REDUNDANCY’

  • Where the business ceases to operate (s.139(1)(a)(i))

  • The employees are automatically entitled to a redundancy payment

  • Temporary cessation of business is a redundancy situation

‘First we must look if there is a redundancy situation. Under s.139(1)(a)(i) an employee who is dismissed by reason of the closure of the employer’s business will be dismissed by reason of redundancy. On the facts, [EMPLOYER] is ceasing to operate [temporarily] therefore [EMPLOYEE] is being dismissed by reason of job redundancy’.
‘PLACE OF WORK’ REDUNDANCY

  • Where the business ceases to operate in the place where the employee was employed (s.139(1)(a)(ii))

    • i.e. where the employee actually work (factual test) or could be required to work (contractual test)

‘First we must look if there is a redundancy situation. Under s.139(1)(a)(ii) a dismissal is considered redundancy where the business ceases to operate in the place where the employee was employed. On the facts, [EMPLOYER] is moving the business to [LOCATION/DISTANCE] in order to [REASON] therefore [EMPLOYEE] is being dismissed by reason of work place redundancy’.
‘EMPLOYEE’ REDUNDANCY

  • Where the employer no longer needs as many employees (s.139(1)(b))

  1. Initial overstaffing

  • Even though the same amount of work is being done

  • Fellow employees can absorb the work done by the dismissed employee

  1. Implementation of new technology

  2. Re-organisation of work methods may produce a more efficient system requiring less employees

  3. Taking on an independent contractor to do the same work

  4. Work carried out by an employee may be done in fewer hours so the...

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