Workplace Report December 2010

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy — the key developments

Where an employee on maternity leave is at risk of redundancy, the employer is obliged to offer any “suitable” available vacancy, provided that the terms of the vacancy are not significantly worse than her existing terms. It is for the employer to decide both whether the role is “suitable” and also whether its terms are significantly worse than existing terms. There is no legal requirement to involve the employee in this assessment when deciding whether to make a job offer. (Case 6)

Case details are available at www.employmentappeals.gov.uk (EAT) and www.bailii.org (Court of Appeal). Call 020 8686 9141 for details of the journal Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR).