Appeal Meeting Tomorrow

I have appealed a decision to make me redundant on the grounds that I was not included in two separate selection processes carried out although having an identical role to those in the selection pools. I work from our Edinburgh Office on contracts in the Glasgow area, we also have a Glasgow Office trading. There are 7 surveyors in our Edinburgh Office (including me) and I would estimate the same in our Glasgow Office.

I was inititally notified my position was "at risk" 03/07/2009 and went through a long drawn out consultation process where it has always been discussed that there may still be opportunities for me in the business. At my final meeting 10/09/2009 I was told I would be made redundant however told that there still may be opportunities due to a re-structuring which is ongoing. During my consultation process, the other surveyors in the business had not been going through their consultation. I then found out that after my final meeting, the remaining surveyors in the Edinburgh Office had been pooled and selection criteria applied resulting in 2 being made redundant. A similar process was then carried out in our Glasgow Office with 2 surveyors being made redundant there also. My greivance is that I was not included in either of these pools and feel I have been singled out.

Any advice on the foregoing would be greatly appreciated as I have my appeal meeting 29/09/2009 at 3PM.

Hi Chris

It sounds like you are on the right track already with your appeal. If there is no reason for you to be excluded from one of the pools any dismissal may well be unfair. I suggest you set out clearly what you think is wrong with the process and say that feel they should redo the process with you slotted into the correct place this time.

Your employer needs to be able to show that they have followed a reasonable procedure in making your redundant. If they do not respond appropriately to your appeal and/or cannot demonstrate clearly why you seem to have been treated differently to others, it is unlikely that they can demonstrate the necessary reasonableness and may well fall foul of a subsequent claim.

regards

Pete

Peter,

Many thanks for your advice there, the meeting went well. They responded positively to my suggestion I should be considered alongside the others. I'm now waiting on a letter confirming the outcome of the appeal.

One other question I had is as follows: As I work for the Edinburgh Business, the selection criteria scoring would be carried out by the Commercial Leader for Edinburgh whereas all the others in this pool will be scored by another manager in the Glasgow Office. Would this porocess have to be overseen by someone more senior in the business to ensure that scores were not weighted in favour of the Glasgow employees? What process should they follow to ensure the scoring is consistent/fair?

Regards,

Chris

Hi Chris

There are no set rules but overall the employer has to demonstrate that that they have acted reasonably. I normally advise employers to have someone at a more senior level that those selecting overseeing the process. But that may not always be possible.

Regards

Pete