Firms ‘must heed employment law relating to redundancy’

Posted 10/11/2009

Companies should ensure they consider proper procedure when handling redundancy so as not to fall foul of employment law, according to an expert.

John Charlton, editor of Employers’ Law magazine, has reminded business owners that the recession has led to an increase in employment tribunal claims for unfair dismissal.

This is backed up by the most recent report published by the Tribunals Service, which showed that the number of unfair dismissal claims in 2008-09 has seen a 30 per cent year-on-year increase.

He suggested that this may be linked to companies looking to make cutbacks but failing to adhere to acceptable redundancy procedures, leaving them liable for compensation claims.

Mr Charlton called for more care to be taken over redundancy in order to avoid legal difficulties.

He said: “It’s absolutely essential that employers have policies in place that guide their human resources function and line managers step-by-step through the handling of such claims.”