Questions on Selection Criteria.

Hi,

I have been a software developer and made redundant last week and I have a few questions reg this.

I worked for xxx company since 2008 in my home country in India and then I got an oppurtunity in UK in 2010 in the same xxx company. However my job continuity is lost since I moved from one country to another and I am now "at risk" for being made redundant with no liability to statutory pay.

I have been given a document from my company saying that I have been put at the risk of redundancy. Currently my consultation period is going which will end on 6th Jan 2012.

I have few questions to ask that have surfaced up during our few first consultation meetings so far.

1: My company had provided me with tickets from India. Since I am on work permit once I lose the job here I will no longer be entitled to stay and work in UK. So is it my employer responsible to provide me air tickets back to my home country? I need to understand this so that I do not feel that the company is actually doing an obligation where as if it would have been a mandate on them.

2: After my team was made known of this event, everyone has strongly supported me verbally, over email and few of them have spoken to the director stating that there has been a mistake in selection. Everyone is of the opinion that there I should not have been in the bottom 2. Is it possible to use this data to argue for unfair dismissal?

3: During my consultation meetings I have argued each and every selection criteria and the director confirmed that since the team had not performed well (due to lack of planning), I was too given a lower rating for 2 selection criteria since I was part of the team despite of the fact that I had completed all my work in time. So I would like to question is it fair for a team's bad performance an individual should get a lower rating. It so happens that I am the only one in my band (chosen for redundancy) who was in this team.

4. I have got the highest pay rise in my last appraisal and all good and excellent feedback from my peers and seniors. This redundancy decision is came out of no where. I would like to know if the management should given in prior warning for any bad performance before taking this extreme step.

5: Also what data should I start collection now if I would like to appeal the judgement later.
- I have emails from all my team mates expressing that I have always done good work and is a incorrect choice for redundancy.
- what else?

I cannot see any evidence in what you have said here that would indicate that there is anything unfair in law. You appear to be under the impression that many people are mistakenly under - that if they disgaree with the redundancy then it isn't fair and they can go to tribunal. This isn't the case. You must prove legal grounds of unfairness. You cannot simply apply to a tribunal because you don't like the outcome.

Thank You SarEI for your reply. Additionally I have few more questions.

1: The day they gave we the letter stating that I am at risk of redundancy, the very same day my director had indicated that i am in the bottom 2 of all the people considered for risk. Does this mean they had come up with this matrix well before in time and could have hinted me about a possibility of risk much earlier?

2: I thought that the selection criteria should be objective. Isnt this understanding correct? If they have a selection criteria of Reliability and results and if they give me a lower score based on the team's output - is it fair to have it reflected on an individual's selection matrix score despite of the reliability and results on an individual's capability over the past year which has been consistent and good?

3: Is it okay to question during consultation why specific people got a higher score than me If I think I am at par or better off? Why do I ask is because I wont like to actually take names but for my understanding and satisfaction I would need to understand it.

4: Also it okay for an employeer to tell an employee on any day about being on risk of redundancy even if he/she did not have any negative feedback earlier.

You need to understand that the law is not interested in scores, opinions, or beliefs - there is a process framework which the employer needs to follow and based on what you have said they have done so. The matrix will have included a lot of other scores - not just the two that you have mentioned, and if you have scored lowly overall then I am farid that you are selected.

You simply don't understand. Redundancy is not about performance. People who have been doing a perfectly good job get made redundant every day. For example, there are ten people who do a good job every day. The employer only needs 8 so two are made redundant. This doesn't change the fact that they have done a good enough job - it is simply that in the redundancy process they came out lowest. This isn't an exam - it isn't about success or faliure. You score lowest you get selected.

Well the reason I am questioning this further is because my overall score is fine its just a matter of getting one point more on one of the criteria and I am safe. The reason I see in unfairness is because the employees selected for the selection matrix come from different teams and both these different teams have different managers/ different work. The reason I have a lowly score in one of the criteria is because we had challenging work and the project was not planned well and it did not go well, so basically all of the team members for that project would have got a low score..but my bad luck is that from this team I am the only one in a specific band which was chosen for job cuts. So basically for a project that did not deliver on time, I am the only one from the team to bear its consequences.

And you have hit the nail on the head - it's just bad luck.