Redundancy criteria that led to dismissal of nurse was unfair

A nurse has won her claim of unfair dismissal after she was made redundant simply because her contract renewal was coming round earlier than her colleague’s.

Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case.

Karen Regan worked as a Band 6 nurse for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Her employment had consisted of a series of fixed-term contracts since 2016, There was another Band 6 nurse on the ward who was also employed on fixed-term contracts.

Shortly after March 2019, the Trust decided that Regan should be made redundant as her contract was the one that was due to be renewed soonest.

The redundancy process included an attempt to find alternative employment for Regan that was unsuccessful, and her contract was terminated in December 2019.

Regan claimed unfair dismissal, but the Employment Tribunal found that she had been fairly selected for redundancy.

However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned that decision.

It noted that consultation between employer and employee is a fundamental aspect of a fair redundancy procedure.

A fair procedure requires that consultation take place at a stage when an employee can still potentially influence the outcome.

It follows that it is not within the band of reasonable responses under the Employment Rights Act 1996, in the absence of consultation, to adopt one criterion that simultaneously decides the pool of employees and which employee is to be dismissed.

The Trust’s decision to dismiss the employee whose contract was up for renewal immediately identified Regan as a pool of one and therefore as the person to be dismissed before any level of consultation with her took place.

A remedy hearing will be heard separately.

If you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of employment law please contact Joanne on 01228 516666 or click here to send her an email.