If you’re going through a process of redundancies then the question of what is suitable alternative employment is key question. To dismiss an employee fairly on the grounds of redundancy, there are two things you need to do as an employer: You must establish that redundancy was genuine, it was the real reason for the dismissal. You must act reasonably throughout the redundancy process and any ultimate dismissal. What is reasonable? The test of reasonableness comes from case law. You can’t act reasonably if you haven’t considered the question of suitable alternative employment (amongst other things). You must search for and, if it’s available, offer suitable alternative employment within your organisation. What is suitable alternative employment? Whether a job is suitable or not usually depends on: how similar the work is to the employee’s current job the terms of the job being offered, eg how much you’ll pay the employee and what benefits they’ll get the status of the job where the job is – if it’s further to travel it may not be suitable the employee’s skills and abilities in relation to the job When should the offer of suitable alternative employment be made? You need to make the […]
