Redundancy and Unfair Dismissal

Time and time again decisions are published in respect of redundancies which are either (a) not genuine and/or (b) proper and fair procedure is not followed. This results in an unfair dismissal.In the case listed below, an employee was in essence “made redundant” for for raising a workplace grievance.The Adjudicator noted“I find that this was a ‘sham redundancy’ situation in that none of the evidence I heard shows an indication of a genuine redundancy situation having existed. The termination letter was a clear attempt to legitimise the unfair dismissal of an employee by veiling it in a letter that no reasonable employer would have written. Any rational reading of the letter would leave no one in any doubt that the reason for dismissal is directly linked to the grievance that was raised by the Complainant”In this case the Workplace Relations Commission ordered reinstatement in respect of the remedy sought. This meant the employee would return to the same role she had prior to being dismissed and would be awarded back pay of salary and benefits from this date.Generally reinstatement is rarely awarded unless it can be shown that the relationship between the parties has not broken down completely or that the trust and confidence between the parties has gone.