redundancy - unfair dismissal + bullying/harrassment

[bemused43]

Apologies in advance if this is not clear.

 

I am the chair of a small charity which has recently enacted a redundancy due to lack of funding; correct procedure has been followed. The individual in question has appealed this decision citing unfair dismissal on the basis that suggestions put forward during consultation were not agreed to. In addition the individual has cited bullying and harassment by line manager. The period over which the alleged bullying occurred spans approx 6 months and during this time, the individual has not at any point raised a grievance or reported any concerns or issue to their Line Manager or the Board. There are some other factors, however I cannot share these in an open Forum, but suffice to say, the individual in question has made a number of false allegations and made representations externally to partners and stakeholders through friends and family. How do we deal with the appeal? Are the two elements ie unfair dismissal and allegations of bullying and harassment separate, or should they be treated as one and therefore addressed through the appeal process? If addressed separately, which should be addressed first.

 

Thank you

[CONCILLIATOR]

A brief description of the nature of the charity of which you are chair may be helpful

 

To whom has the ex-employee appealed?

[bemused43]

A brief description of the nature of the charity of which you are chair may be helpful

 

To whom has the ex-employee appealed?

 

The appeal has been submitted to the Chairman of the Charity. The charity employs 8 full and par-time staff and supports people facing multiple disadvantages i.e. low level skills, learning disabilities, carers etc.

[CONCILLIATOR]

Bemused43,

 

You say you are the chair.

 

Is the Chairman of the Charity a different individual?

 

Has a fair redundancy selection procedure been used, who made the selection, and why that individual out of the 8?

 

You also say you have a Line Manager, a Board, partners and stakeholders, and 8 employees.

 

Have you considered that you might be a tad 'top heavy', and tried making economies in that quarter? Especially since they don't appear capable of sorting out grievances or handling a redundancy situation.

Edited October 9, 2011 by CONCILLIATOR

[bemused43]

Thank you for your response Conciliator.

 

The board comprises 9 board members and myself as Chairman. We are all volunteers and do not draw any financial or other benefits from the charity.

The post selected for redundancy was in a 'unique pool of 1' and the corrects procedure was followed at all times.

The reason for this post being made redundant and not the others was because this post was not directly funded to provide care for the service users of the charity and all the other posts are of a specialist nature i.e. speech therapist, physiotherapist, learning mentor etc.

The post was administration based and with funding cutbacks the Manager and volunteers will absorb tasks.

Partners and stakeholders are people we take referrals from and signpost to i.e. hospitals, mental health unit, social services, schools etc.

7 staff are part time and work between 4 and 16 hours maximum each. The Manager works 30 hours.

 

Referring to my original question which was how to address the issue of the appeal, do you have any suggestions?

 

Regards

[CONCILLIATOR]

If you are satisfied with the Line Manager's assurance that there was no bullying or harassment you could explain to the individual concerned that you have no other option but to let him/her go and that his grievances are just sour grapes and have no basis in fact. Invite the individual to provide conclusive evidence or else do his/her worst.

 

If you have followed the redundancy procedures, genuinely considered all the options, you are quite within your rights to act on your conclusions. Tribunals do not usually judge the wisdom or otherwise of a management decision, only whether the action is within the law.