An employment case highlights the importance of employers adhering to the proper process when in a redundancy situation, even if the employee concerned is on long term leave.

A sales and marketing manager was on leave for 3 months, only to find on his return that he had been made redundant and was not invited to resume his usual duties.   When he contacted the employer, the employer provided backdated advice making the employee redundant.

An employer in this situation needs to:

1. Advise the employee of the proposed restructuring;
2. Invite feedback;
3. Invite the employee to take advice;
4. Consider the feedback received;
5. Advise the employee of the outcome and finalized plan.

In this case the employee had not been consulted with and the employer had breached the requirement of good faith. 

The dismissal was found to be unjustified and the employer had to reimburse the employee for wages ($16,500), pay compensation ($8,000), interest (10 per cent), and a penalty ($3,000) payable to the Crown.

It is vital to get the process right to avoid unnecessary costs.  A copy of our free redundancy guide is available in the Downloads section of our website or phone Alan Knowsley.