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Not treated fairly during redundancy process

2 replies

grapesstrawberriespleass · 20/05/2025 12:33

Live and employed in Scotland. Been with current employer for just under 2 years.

I work for a charity that has been undergoing a redundancy and employment process for a long time now. We knew we were potentially going to be 'at risk' since last year but were told we would be offered alternative employment.

Our company made us apply for roles we felt we were suitable for via the usual online application portal. This was the first red flag as Acas states that alternative employment should be assessed and offered and we shouldn't be made to apply. I raised this with HR who came back with a bunch of semantics about how they were using the word ‘apply’ but it was actually just a way for us to provide ‘evidence’ to support our redeployment. Call it what you want, but making employees answer application questions on an application portal is applying, right? Anyway, I applied for 5 roles, all permanent and same salary.

I’ve today been offered an alternative role I didn’t apply for, nor do I want. It’s a temporary position that ends December 2025. I desperately need a permanent position and I thought by applying for 5 permanent roles this was pretty clear. Throughout this process they’ve been awful. I never had the opportunity to speak with my individual consultation manager due to him being in a very senior role and being very busy, so I’ve felt pretty alone throughout this process. Additionally, I’ve since found out that colleagues of mine were contacted by the hiring managers of the roles they applied for and given the opportunity to provide further evidence to strengthen their ‘applications’. I never had this chance. Had I been offered it, I may have scored higher for the roles.

What are my options here? I realise I’m not protected due to the fact I’ve worked less than 2 years. I’m just so incredibly angry at how awfully they’ve managed this process.

OP posts:
Greenartywitch · 20/05/2025 12:51

I would get some legal advice from ACAS or Citizen Advice Bureau.

I think in your situation I would email HR with a list of queries asking them to confirm:

  • how the posts to be made redundant were selected
  • why there was a discrepancy in the way you were treated and the way other staff were treated when applying for alternative posts
  • why you were not selected for the jobs you applied for, although you have the right skills and experience, and why you were offered a random temp role that you did not even applied for instead.

Unfortunately, as you mentioned with less than 2 years of employment you have fewer rights.

Unless of course you have a protected characteristic (such as disability) or there is a reason to suspect that you were treated less favourably because of your age, gender...

prh47bridge · 20/05/2025 15:02

Having a protected characteristic does not give OP any extra protection in and of itself. She is only protected if she her dismissal is unlawful discrimination, or her dismissal is for a reason that is automatically unfair, or this is wrongful dismissal (i.e. OP's employer is in breach of contract). There is nothing in OP's post that indicates any of these apply, so I doubt she has any legal options.

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