Can my employer be obliged to widen the redundancy pool?

I have been threatened with redundancy and was placed in the collective selection pool with 12 other people who perform different kind of jobs than I do. I am assistant housekeeping manager and my role will be diminished. Other people in the pool are chefs, public area cleaners and cloakroom attendants. My role includes covering my manager when she is off or on holiday and inspecting rooms on a daily basis. However, there are two others working in the department whose duties are similar to mine who haven’t been included in the selection pool. As I am willing to step down from the supervisor’s position and have more experience and qualifications than both supervisors, can I ask the employer to widen the selection pool and include those two supervisors?

Next post
Full steam ahead for 2021 Off-Payroll tax changes

I understand that you have been placed in the selection pool with 12 other people that perform different jobs to you for redundancy purposes.

You query whether you can ask your employer to widen the selection pool to include the two housekeeping supervisors, who perform similar roles to you.

In terms of selection pools, an employer has a wide degree of flexibility in selecting the appropriate pool. The question of how the pool should be defined is primarily a matter for the employer to determine and, provided an employer genuinely applies its mind to the choice of a pool, it will be difficult for you to challenge that choice. However, in the situation you have described, I consider that you should challenge the selection pool on two bases; firstly that it includes a wide variety of different roles, all of which I assume will be scored against a single selection matrix; and secondly, on the basis that jobs with interchangeable work/skills have not been included. You could also suggest that your employer considers “bumping” i.e. making one of the housekeeping supervisors redundant and offering you their role.

If you have already been through the consultation process and had your dismissal for redundancy confirmed, you could raise these points as part of the appeal process. If you consider that the redundancy procedure adopted by your employer has not been fair and reasonable, you may have a claim for unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal. This needs to be submitted within three months of your dismissal and you must go through the ACAS early conciliation process before a Tribunal will accept your claim.

*Helen Frankland assisted in answering this question.