S.7(2) of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, states:

For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to one of the set reasons which can be seen here.

In St. Ledger V Frontline Distributors Ireland EAT Chairman stated ‘’Impersonality runs throughout the five definitions in the Act’’.

If an employer chooses selection criteria that relates to the employees commercial acumen, disciplinary record, personal achievements, for example, it will be put to the employer that unfair selection criteria were intentionally chosen by them contrary to the law on fair selection.

Selection criteria must be objectively based.

The duty in fair versus unfair selection dismissal cases is on the employer to demonstrate a fair selection arose.

A key component of a fair selection is the concept of Impersonality, which many employers do not adopt when setting about creating selection criteria.

A procedurally fair selection should not be done with haste, there should be discussions with staff members in relation to the selection criteria, feedback requested from them, and the employers should not make the decision to make staff redundant and then start the process of consultation.

An employer must engage with the employee who may be made redundant.

They should explain the change process and give reasons for it.

Effective communication and consultations are key to an effective process.

Without consideration and due process regarding selection, natural justice may be found not to have been adhered to by the employer.

Cleary & Co. Solicitors, Litigation Law Firm 

Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary Employment Law Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding employment law matters and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or  (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad out-line of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute. Legal advice should be sought from a solicitor prior to relying on anything in this article.

Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.