LRD guides and handbook May 2015

Law at Work 2015

Chapter 11

Checklist — Challenging discriminatory selection for redundancy

[ch 11: pages 351-352]

• Why does the member believe their selection was for a discriminatory or automatically unfair reason?

• Comparators — Are members of a protected group disproportionately represented among those selected for redundancy?

• Selection criteria — are they inherently subjective or discriminatory?

• Does the decision to target the member look clearly and obviously wrong?

• What explanation has the employer offered? Is it persuasive?

• Is the employer’s story consistent, or has the explanation changed as to why the member was selected?

• Is there evidence of past overt discriminatory remarks, particularly by the managers in charge of the assessment process?

• Have workers with the protected characteristic been targeted disproportionately for redundancy by the employer in the past?

• Victimisation — has the member complained about discrimination in the past, or supported someone else who has claimed discrimination? (see page 174). Did the manager in charge of selection know about previous discrimination complaints?

• How did management respond to the earlier complaint?

• Who survived the redundancy and how do their scores compare?

• What are the differences between the member’s original role and any new role advertised or created in a restructuring?

• Is the member an active union member or have they recently joined a union?

• Does the decision-maker know this?

• Is the union attempting to organise recognition at the workplace?

• Is the employer opposed to trade union activities? Can you prove this?