EAT One of four drivers was to be made redundant. The claimant had the shortest service and was selected on this basis. He said that another employee, with occasional driving duties and shorter service should have been selected.
Held: The appeal failed. The dismissal was not unfair. There was no general principle requiring an employer to consider employees with different positions, since the requirement to show that the employer had acted reasonably had now been removed.
Lord McDonald MC said: ‘In certain circumstances in making a selection for redundancy, an employer should not confine himself to employees holding similar positions in the same undertaking . . We do not consider that this case lays down any hard and fast principle which must be followed in every other case irrespective of the circumstances.’ He concluded: ‘In our view the proper approach to this matter is as follows. S.57(3) raises the question of reasonableness. As has been said in a number of recent cases this is a situation in which one employer may act in a certain way and act perfectly reasonably and another employer in identical circumstances may act in the opposite way and still act perfectly reasonably. There is in short what has been described as a band of reasonableness and the actions of an employer will only be unfair if it is shown that they fell outwith that band.’
Judges:
Lord McDonald MC
Citations:
[1985] IRLR 55
Cited by:
Cited – Mugford v Midland Bank Plc EAT 23-Jan-1997
The court considered the test for reasonableness in a procedure for selection for redundancy. Peter Clarke J said: ‘As to whether a reasonable employer would or would not consult with an individual employee is, it seems to us, essentially a question . .
Cited – P Byrne v Arvin Meritor LVS (UK) Ltd EAT 22-Jan-2003
EAT The appellant had taken a temporary promotion with re-assurances that on completion he would return to his former position. That old role disappeared during the period. The temporary role finished early and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 15 May 2022; Ref: scu.425339
