Redundancy selection

Q: I have been told I am at risk of redundancy following a selection exercise, but my employer refuses to discuss the results. Am I allowed to know what they are?

A: If the statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures (DDPs) apply — which they will do unless this is a collective redundancy situation with 20 proposed redundancies or more — your employer has to tell you what the selection criteria were and what your scores were before taking the decision to dismiss. You are entitled to see your scores (but no-one else’s) and the criteria as part of the “step 2” meeting, so that you have the chance to challenge them.

If your employer does not give you this information at this stage, your dismissal will be automatically unfair — as was confirmed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Alexander and Hatherley v Bridgen Enterprises Ltd EAT/0107/06.

If the statutory DDPs do not apply — which they won’t if collective redundancies are being considered — it may still be unfair to dismiss anyone without giving them the chance to challenge their score. However, it will not be automatically unfair; instead, the normal “reasonableness of dismissal” test will apply.