Employment Law: Redundancy – the days of ‘last in, first out’ are gone

‘Last in, first out’ (LIFO) used to be one of the most common ways of objectively determining who was going to lose their jobs in a redundancy situation.

Put simply, LIFO means that when choosing people for redundancy, the longer you have been with a company the safer you are.

Is this fair though?

It may be objective, but when it comes to employment law redundancy LIFO isn’t necessarily fair when used as the sole selection criteria. Since the enactment of equality and anti-discrimination legislation, LIFO taken on its own is no longer considered as legally safe as it once was and is generally avoided by employers.

For example, younger workers are more likely to lose out under a LIFO system, as they tend to be the people who have worked for the shortest time at an organisation. As they are at a disadvantage based on their age, they may have grounds to make a claim for indirect age discrimination. Instead employers should be looking at skills based selection, that doesn’t assume that just because you’ve been there a long time you’re better at the job.

Employment Law Redundancy

Redundancy is never easy for an employer. If you face the possibility of making them, take advice at the earliest opportunity to avoid the pitfalls.

If you’re an employee, check at an early stage so that mistakes your employer might be making, can be rectified before the damage is done.

For more information or to speak to our team about our Employment Law Redundancy services  please call us on  0161 624 6811

Team: John Porter, Soibi Iketubosin

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John Porter

John has been with Wrigley Claydon for over 20 years, becoming a partner in 1995. Specialising in Employment Law, John helps clients with matters including the preparation of recruitment policies and employment contracts as well as advocating in employment tribunals in cases of unfair dismissal or discrimination. He also has considerable experience of dealing with landlord and tenant disputes and matters relating to business and company sales, commercial investment property transactions and lettings as well as residential estate and offshore property developments. “I know I’ve done a good job when the business doesn’t need me!” John is never happier than when spending time with his wife and 2 children, Lucy and Alex. John is Chair of Respect Our Community Awards (ROCA) and a board member of First Choice Homes Oldham. In his spare time, John is likely to be found either reading, cooking or walking Donnie the Golden Retriever.

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