permanent employee to be made redundant while temp employee to be kept on

I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who knows the law about this. I've been with a company for a few years now and is now undergoing restructuring process. I work in a department where there is a mixture of permanent and temp workers. I am one of persons chosen to be made redundant. I have already received by redundancy payment and due to leave the company by the end of the month. Yesterday, I found out that the company is keeping the temp employee doing the same job description as me. Did the company break any laws in making me redundant while keeping a temporary employee employed?

Hi

Is the temporary worker employed by the company or are they an agency worker?

^^^The temporary person retained/kept is an agency worker.

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

For a redundancy to be genuine, the work that you perform needs to have diminished or no longer exist. As the agency worker is performing the same job as you, it could be argued that the work is still available although diminished.

If the other worker had been an employee of the business, I would have expected your employer to put you both in a selection pool, apply a selection criteria and ultimately one remain.

The very fact that work remains makes it possible that you claim for unfair dismissal on the grounds that the redundancy is not genuine. Furthermore, as part of the redundancy consultation process, your employer should have looked for alternative employment. You may also with to argue that there is available work albeit currently performed by an agency worker.

Do you know the rationale behind retaining the agency worker? There is a degree of flexibility gained from an agency worker.
Do they pay less? If so, has the company given you the opportunity to take a pay cut.

You may wish to appeal the decision (via your company appeals process) and thereafter make an application to an employment tribunal. I would advise that you seek legal help for this. Employment tribunals look at each case individually.

I hope this helps.