ARTICLE · 24 JUNE 2023

The pitfalls of implementing redundancies

People + Culture Strategies

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This redundancy was not genuine, as the employer failed to consult appropriately, and had not considered redeployment.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

Kirryn West James

Vanessa Yol

Redeployment, consultation, third party communicaitons, modern award requirements and redundancy pay are all part of the practicalities of implementing redundancies. An employer's redeployment and consultation obligations were recently unpacked by the Fair Work Commission ("FWC") after an employee claimed their redundancy was not genuine.

Of particular interest were the FWC's comments around an employer's redeployment obligations where they have related entities overseas. You can read the case here.

What was the case about?

The employer decided to undertake a business restructure due to financial difficulties. As part of this business restructure, the employer made the decision to implement redundancies in Australia and intended to relocate the technical support operations to their Indian headquarters.

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