I have recently received lovely feedback from a client who I have achieved a settlement for in their claim for Unfair Dismissal. Read on to see what my client had to say…
I first met with my client for a Fixed Fee Consultation in November 2020. At the time of our appointment, she had been made redundant and she had concerns that she had been unfairly selected for redundancy. I agreed with her.
My Client’s Background
My client had been employed, by the company, for nearly 20 years and during this time she had held an exemplary capability record together with having a significant amount of experience on the processes and procedures in the business. My client held a similar role to a colleague, who had been employed for a period of two years. During her colleague’s employment, my client had trained and supervised her.
Pool Of Employees
As part of my client’s redundancy procedure, the company identified the relevant ‘pool of employees’ who are to be placed ‘at risk’ of redundancy. The pool for selection is the group of employees the employer decides they will select from to make employees redundant. My client had been placed in a pool of employees with her colleague referred to above. The pool therefore consisted of two and one of them would ultimately be selected for redundancy. My client agreed with the pool of employees, but she did not agree with what happened next…
Selection Process
Once the relevant ‘pool of employees’ has been identified, the next step is to objectively score those employees through the selection process. The selection can take place in a number of ways and is commonly by a selection matrix or scoring system; this is how the company progressed through the redundancy procedure and scored my client against certain categories.
When my client received her scores, she was horrified by the low scores she had received. Additionally, my client learnt her colleague had been scored much more favourably than her. I took my client’s instructions on the scores she had received and I agreed that I could not see how the company had objectively scored her. There was simply no documentation or evidence to support such low scores. Consequently to receiving her scores and having scored lower than her colleague, she was selected for redundancy.
Redundancy Appeal
I advised my client to submit a detailed Redundancy Appeal to highlight her concerns which she did. Unfortunately, however, her appeal was not overturned and so I advised her to proceed with a claim for Unfair Dismissal in the Employment Tribunal.
Early Conciliation with ACAS – Settlement
I raised Early Conciliation on behalf of my client and shortly afterward, I engaged in settlement negotiations with the employer. I achieved an early settlement on behalf of my client and prior to her submitting her claim in the Employment Tribunal. In addition to my client having already received her contractual and statutory redundancy payments, the company agreed to pay an additional compensatory payment equivalent to six months’ gross salary to my client. My client was delighted and kindly sent to me the following review:-
Client Review
“I am writing to say thank you for your legal advice and professionalism which resulted in a successful outcome concerning my unfair dismissal claim. I would also like to express my gratitude for the care and concern that you showed me during the whole process and for all the help I also received from Julia and Helen…
So once again, thank you for the amazing legal work you did on my behalf and for doing everything you could to help me win my case. I would certainly have no hesitation in recommending yourself and Linc’s Law to anyone that requires an employment law solicitor.”
How Can We Help You?
If you have any Employment Law issue at work and require legal assistance, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Specialist Employment Law Solicitors on 01522 440512 or email us at contactus@lincslaw.com Additionally, if you have any concerns on redundancy, you can learn more by visiting our page; Redundancy – LincsLaw Employment Law Solicitors – Based in Lincoln
Lucy Stones
Employment Law Solicitor
Lincs Law
Tags: acas Client review cot3 early conciliation employment tribunal happy client Lincs Law lucy stones pool of employees redundancy selection process unfair dismissal