Selection Process In Administration? Consultation rules followed?

Hi all,

Hope you can help. I work for a large company that had entered into administration, The company is still in administration and trading but i was one of 600 people that was made redundant. what is the selection process if any? for deciding who stays.

Does such selection criteria apply in an administration process i have a letter from the administraters saying 350 people have been kept because of need of the business. The reason why i and many people are querying this is because a number of people with the same job roles were dismissed over people with high absence %, people that are currently off absent or are in numerous grievences and disciplinary process.

Im trying not to sound bitter but just need some clarification on how this is worked out as there was no consultation from the administration or employer prior to 600 peopel leaving with an hours notice.

Any help would really great

Hi, thank you for your question although I am sorry to hear that you have been made redundant from your company at such short notice.

There are a few issues surrounding your situation which I will to answer with the information that I have.

When a company is proposing to make more than 100 redundancies over a 90 day period, there is a minimum period of 90 days consultation period. Where a company goes in to administration and ceases to trade, this statute does not apply. However, you have stated that 350 employees have remained in employment with the company which suggests that the company is still trading and the administrators are running the company as an ongoing concern.

Therefore, the legal requirements surrounding a collective redundancy situation including consultation with the trade union or employee representative, applying a fair, objective and consistent selection criteria etc should have been followed.

Furthermore, you say you were only given 1 hours notice before you were dismissed. This also means that the company has not followed the statutory minimum dismissal procedures.

You don’t say whether you are in a Trade Union or not. If you are in a Trade Union, you may find that they are applying to the Employment Tribunals for a collective protective award. The Protective award is an award which can be made by an Employment Tribunal where there has been a failure to consult with appropriate representatives. This would apply in your case as there were 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a period of 90 days. The maximum compensation that can be awarded if an employer fails to consult is 90 days pay. If you are not in a Trade Union, you can apply for this individually.

I hope this helps.