Redundancy: A Cost Cutting Exercise Or A Costly Mistake?

Emma Parr reviews a recent Guernsey Employment Tribunal ruling that demonstrates how vital it is for employers to ensure their selection pool is correctly identified, selection criteria are objective and verifiable and that the consultation process should be genuine.

The redundancy process of Blanchelande College in Guernsey was recently thrown into the spotlight when a former maths teacher successfully won his claims for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.

Following its decision in October 2010 to suspend the College's sixth form as a costing cutting exercise, the College determined that all teaching staff could be affected by its decision (either because their post might no longer exist, or because their teaching hours may be reduced) and were placed in the pool for redundancy selection.