Redundancy and the right of appeal – a cautionary word

With the furlough leave having ended, it is an unfortunate fact that some businesses will need to make difficult decisions, and in some situations consider redundancy. In the recent case of  Gwynedd Council v Barratt and Anor the Court of Appeal had to grapple with the fairness of a redundancy selection process. It is perhaps not surprising that the dismissed teachers won their case. Their school closed and a new one opened on the same site. There was no consultation over the closure and no appeal offered. The applications for new roles at the new school were unsuccessful. The Court of Appeal stressed that it was important to look at all factors in order to reach a decision. The lack of a right of appeal was closely scrutinised. The decision was that not giving a right of appeal did not in itself make the dismissal unfair. However, it was a factor to be taken into account and clearly when other aspects of the process were not in accordance with expectations the lack of a right to appeal was a relevant factor.
 
Whilst strictly speaking there is no statutory obligation on the employer to offer the employee the right to appeal the redundancy, prudent employers will take the view that it is sensible to allow an appeal against a redundancy decision.