Legal News | 13.09.23
Redundancy: Scoring
Article 5 of 6
Once an employer has decided on the selection criteria to be used, they will need to score each potentially redundant employee against it. We explored potential selection criteria in a previous article.
Where an employee scores below the required score to avoid being made redundant, they will be selected for redundancy. It is important to remember, that any dismissal for redundancy will be unfair if the selection criteria are unfairly applied.
Unfairness is likely to arise where there is clear inconsistency in the application of the criteria stemming from either bad faith or incompetence. It is therefore important that an employer can justify their application of the criteria. For this reason, it is best practice for an employer to have more than one manager involved in scoring.
To evidence that a fair process is being followed, an employer should ensure that the scoring process is recorded in writing. Best practice is to use an assessment form to record each individual’s scores and any accompanying notes. Once complete, the form should be signed by the managers conducting the scoring exercise.
The selection criteria should, as far as possible, be objective and capable of independent verification. Where subjective criteria (such as future potential) are included, the score should be based on objective and verifiable factors and a note should be made of these on the selection form.
Throughout the scoring process, managers should seek to be objective. Selection criteria such as performance or disciplinary records, should be scored based on appraisals or rules having been fairly and consistently applied to all the potentially redundant employees. A fair timeframe should also be applied to provide an accurate picture of current performance and any expired disciplinary actions should be discounted.
Reasonable adjustments should be made to take account of any disability (except in relation to length of service and disciplinary records) if failure to do so would put the employee at a substantial disadvantage compared to an employee who is not disabled.
Weightings can be attached to the individual criteria to reflect their importance to the business. Such weighting will need to be justifiable and applied equally to all potentially redundant employees.
Once the scoring exercise is complete, an employer should disclose each employee’s individual scores to them, explain how they were arrived at, and give the employee the opportunity to challenge them as part of the consultation process.
Other articles in this series:
Article 1: Restructuring and Redundancy – Preliminary Considerations
Article 2: Redundancy – Pools, Selection Criteria and Alternative Vacancies
Article 3: Redundancy – Collective Consultation
Article 4: Redundancy – Consultation
Article 6: Redundancy – Outcome
If you would like more specific advice on the redundancy process, or if you have any other queries, please contact: 01380 733300 | commercial@wansbroughs.com
