Mrs R Khamar v PIE Pharma Limited — 2023

Mrs R Khamar had worked for PIE Pharma Limited since 5 June 2000 in the labelling staff/warehouse team. The tribunal accepted that there was a genuine redundancy situation caused by reduced work in the respondent’s business, but it found that the dismissal itself was unfair within s.98(4) ERA 1996. The respondent had decided to make redundancies in December 2021, and the 14 February 2022 meeting and letter were treated as a fait accompli rather than a genuine warning and consultation process.

The tribunal found the selection exercise to be unreasonable. The respondent said it relied on attendance, performance, understanding and experience, but the spreadsheet used different criteria and the claimant and other affected employees were not consulted about the criteria in advance. The tribunal held that criteria such as understanding, aptitude, performance and productivity were too subjective for a business that did not run a formal appraisal system, and it noted that the claimant was not given her scores until the hearing bundle was disclosed.

The tribunal also found that the respondent did not take reasonable steps to find suitable alternative employment. There was no meaningful discussion of alternatives after 14 February 2022, no vacancies were advertised, and the claimant’s suggestion of reduced hours did not lead to any real consideration. In light of those defects, the dismissal was not within the range of reasonable responses. The tribunal made no Polkey deduction, finding it likely that the claimant would not have been dismissed if a fair process had been followed.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded compensation only. It made no basic award because the claimant had already received a statutory redundancy payment. It assessed the compensatory award at £2,616.71, made up of loss of earnings, pension loss and loss of statutory rights, with the award subject to recoupment because the claimant had received Job Seeker’s Allowance. The prescribed element was £2,116.71 and the balance payable to the claimant was £500.