REDUNDANCY: Fairness
UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Compensation
The Claimant was the only employee of a family firm. A redundancy situation arose. The Claimant was then unfairly dismissed. He applied to the Employment Tribunal. Three relevant issues arose. (1) Would he have been dismissed if a fair procedure had been adopted? (2) What uplift should the Tribunal award for failure to follow statutory procedures? And (3) to what figures should the uplift be applied?
Held: (1) The Tribunal had been wrong to construct a pool comprising a partner and an employee. As the only employee the Claimant would inevitably have been made redundant. (2) The Tribunal was entitled to award the maximum 50 per cent uplift. (3) The uplift could only be applied to awards, so the employer could successfully avoid the uplift by paying sums due shortly before the Tribunal hearing.
Citations:
[2009] UKEAT 0527 – 08 – 0406
Links:
Employment
Updated: 04 August 2022; Ref: scu.375190