Extract
Employment Law Briefing Winter 2008.
Employment Law Briefing Winter 2008
The Employment team at FSI consider key developments in employment law in September and October 2008 in depth and the changes planned for the New Year. REDUNDANCY Length of service as a criterion for redundancy selection may not be unlawful In the case of Rolls Royce Plc v Unite (The Union) the High Court held that using length of service as one factor for selecting employees for redundancy was not unlawful age discrimination. This criterion was part of a broader assessment matrix contained in a collective agreement made with the Trade Union to facilitate peaceable restructuring and fair selection of affected employees in a redundancy situation. In this case, employees would receive 1 point for each full year of service. Rolls Royce preferred not to include this criterion when making selection and so argued that this length of service criterion was age discriminatory. The parties referred the issue to the High Court to decide. The High Court decided that the length of service criterion was not unlawful because it could be objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate business aim (here the fact that it was part of a collective agreement between Rolls Royce and the Trade Union to enable fair and peaceable redundancies, and also that it demonstrated respect for the loyalty and experience in the workforce). The High Court also held that the use of the criterion was exempt under Regulation 32 of the Age Regulations because it ...See the full content of this document
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