Tag archives: redundancy

Collective consultation on redundancy – what obligations do employers have in France

By Judicaël Fouquet on February 25, 2015 Posted in Europe, France

General comments

Under French employment law, employees’ representatives benefit from a right to be consulted on a very wide range of matters concerning the running of the company. In particular, the works council must be informed and consulted on any matter relating to the organisation, the management and the general running of the company, which unsurprisingly includes collective dismissals for economic reasons (there are still uncertainties about the existence of a consultation obligation in case of individual redundancy).

Aside from this general rule, there exist different sets of rules applicable to procedures for collective dismissals that implement a requirement of … Continue Reading

Collective consultation on redundancy – what obligations do employers have in the UK?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on February 25, 2015 Posted in Europe, UK

When does the duty arise?

The UK legislation on group redundancies implements the EU Directive of 1998. Under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, when an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant within a period of 90 days or less at one establishment, he is under a duty to collectively consult with employee representatives.

The duty is therefore triggered by the number of redundancies proposed at one establishment. The meaning of ‘establishment’ is the subject of on-going litigation which it is hoped will clarify the position. In the meantime, the current position in … Continue Reading

When is an employer’s obligation to consult collectively on redundancies triggered?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on February 11, 2015 Posted in Europe, UK

In the UK, under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (which implements an EU directive), if an employer intends to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant within a period of 90 days or less at one establishment, the employer will have a duty to collectively consult with employee representatives. The meaning of ‘establishment’ has been the subject of ongoing litigation.

In July 2013, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (the EAT) in the case of USDAW and another v Ethel Austin Ltd (in administration) and others decided that the words ‘one establishment’ in the UK legislation should be … Continue Reading

Employee Rights on Redundancy – Avoiding Discrimination in Organizational Restructuring

By Michael Torrance on June 20, 2014 Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment

When job redundancies arise in an organization, whether as result of a merger, restructuring, or downsizing, employers need to remain aware of duties under human rights legislation, such as the Ontario Human Rights Code.

To meet these expectations, an employer’s decision regarding which employees will lose their jobs can not be tainted in any way by discriminatory decision-making. For example, if terminations are being decided on the basis of poor performance, it could be considered discriminatory if accommodated employees are included – where their lower performance is tied to their limitations due to disability. To ensure fairness and avoid … Continue Reading

Australia: Employees’ rights on redundancy

By Jodie Kessler on June 16, 2014 Posted in Australia

Rights of employees upon redundancy of their position and in the case of any resulting termination of the employee’s employment will depend upon whether the employee falls into the Federal employment and industrial relations jurisdiction (National System Employees) or under the jurisdiction of the State in which the employee works.

National System Employees

National System Employees are employees covered by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act). The Act covers all Commonwealth public sector employees and private sector employees in all states (except in Western Australia, where the private sector coverage of the Act is limited to those … Continue Reading

Employees’ rights on redundancy in France

By Elodie Grangier on June 13, 2014 Posted in Europe, France

The rules concerning economic dismissal in France are generally considered to be extremely complex. The applicable procedure and the extent of the employees’ rights depend principally on the number of employees to be dismissed and the size of the employing entity. The main entitlements of employees can be summarized as follows (subject to more favorable collective bargaining agreement / unilateral undertaking / customary practice / contractual provisions):

Prior to dismissal

– The right to be dismissed according to an objective selection process: Employers are required to establish objective criteria as set forth in relevant legislation or by the applicable collective … Continue Reading

Employees’ rights on redundancy in Germany

By Annegret Müller-Mundt on June 13, 2014 Posted in Europe, Germany

In the event of a termination for redundancy or similar reasons, employees in Germany have the right to file a lawsuit in order to have a court review the validity of the termination. If the termination is invalid, the law provides for a continuation of the employment relationship. As a basic principle, there is no statutory right of an employee to receive any kind of financial compensation in the event of a termination. De facto, however, most termination cases are settled by the payment of a negotiated compensation.

Where there is a major redundancy and a works council exists, the … Continue Reading

What rights do employees have on redundancy in the UK?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on June 12, 2014 Posted in Europe, UK

Whilst redundancies may be unavoidable, employers must think ahead when planning redundancies in order to avoid the additional burden of costly litigation and claims from employees. Employees in the UK have a number of rights in a redundancy situation and employers need to follow the correct procedures in order to avoid potential claims.

What is a redundancy?

In the UK redundancy is defined in statute. It covers three types of situation – the closure of a business, the closure of a workplace or the reduction in a workforce either throughout the business or just at the relevant workplace.

Where the … Continue Reading

Redundancy in the UAE: the federal law and how much will it cost?

By Adjou Ait Ben Idir on November 25, 2013 Posted in Middle East

The federal law

In these times of economic uncertainty, employers are always considering implementing cost cutting including reducing their payroll costs. In the UAE, the Federal UAE Labour Law n°8 of 1980 (UAE Labour Law) does not make express reference to the concept of redundancy. Consequently, instigating a redundancy process involves following the provisions that deals with termination of employment.

Under the UAE Labour Law an employee on an unlimited term contract may only be legitimately dismissed:

(a) by the provision of notice in line with the terms of the employment contract provided that the employee is dismissed … Continue Reading

Outplacement agencies: there is room for unfair dismissal

By Elodie Grangier on November 4, 2013 Posted in France

In the context of redundancies, French employers are subject to a strict reclassification obligation which requires them to try to seek alternative positions to be proposed to those employees whose dismissal is contemplated, prior to notification of the dismissal.

In addition to their own research at company and group level, it is common practice for employers (particularly in the context of mass redundancy schemes) to appoint outplacement agencies and to provide in the dismissal documentation that the designated agency will propose to those employees who are ultimately dismissed a fixed number of employment offers, during the period covered by their … Continue Reading

Go abroad?

By on October 4, 2013 Posted in Europe, Germany

The German Federal Labour Court recently decided that dismissals for redundancy reasons can be made even if free positions are available at another business unit abroad.

In the case at hand, an employer decided to move its production from Germany to the Czech Republic. Only the administration department remained in Germany. Thus, the employer dismissed all staff employed in production for redundancy reasons. The claimant argued that her dismissal was unlawful as the employer should have offered her the opportunity to move to the Czech Republic by issuing a “dismissal with the option of altered conditions”. The court, however, decided … Continue Reading

Collective Redundancy Consultation

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 10, 2013 Posted in Europe, UK

A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the UK has considered the meaning of the words “at one establishment” for the purposes of triggering collective consultation obligations.

Under the UK collective redundancy rules, the obligation to inform and consult only arises when an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant “20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less”. The case involved two retail companies which became insolvent, and the employment tribunal held that each of their stores was to be considered as a separate “establishment”. As a result employees who worked … Continue Reading

When is a true casual employee not a true casual?

By guestauthor on May 9, 2013 Posted in Australia

In an important decision that effectively reverses how employers assess whether their award or agreement covered employees are ‘true’ casual employees under the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) has held that the characterisation of “casual employee” should be solely based on the specific definition in the relevant enterprise agreement or modern award, and not according to principles in the general law.

In Telum Civil (Qld) Pty Limited v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union [2013] FWCFB 2434 (Telum) the Commission considered whether the employees … Continue Reading