Ms P Barnett v Fcms (nw) Limited — 2025

The Claimant was employed by the Respondent from early 2019 and was dismissed by reason of redundancy effective 30 June 2024 following an organisational restructure. He was offered the opportunity to apply for a range of alternative roles, declined to do so, and accepted voluntary redundancy on enhanced terms (a statutory payment of £2,990 plus an additional £2,500), together with gardening leave for the remainder of his notice. He accepted that there was a genuine and reasonable redundancy situation and that his role was redundant, and he did not challenge the consultation, selection, grievance or appeal processes.

The unfair dismissal claim was maintained on a narrow basis: that a part-time Healthcare Assistant, Ms Moss, took on the 'meds management' element of his former duties (approximately 15-20% of his full-time hours) after he agreed to voluntary redundancy, and that he should have been retained until all aspects of his role were absorbed within the restructure. The Tribunal accepted that Ms Moss was an existing employee 'backfilling' on a temporary basis while outstanding recruitment under the restructure was completed, and that she combined this with her own separate responsibilities.

Applying s.98(4) ERA 1996 and the band of reasonable responses, Employment Judge Moxon found that the Respondent had shown a potentially fair reason (redundancy) and that the process was fair throughout. Retaining the Claimant on a full-time, higher-paid contract solely to perform one of his eleven duties, when an existing part-time employee could absorb that task alongside her own work pending completion of the restructure, would have been contrary to the Respondent's financial interest. The claim was dismissed.