Redundancy Right - difference between dismissal and redundancy

What is the difference between dismissal and redundancy?

A redundancy is a type of dismissal, but it is different to an ordinary dismissal in many ways. Employees who are being made redundant have various redundancy rights. Employees who are being dismissed for other reasons also have employment rights, but they are different to redundancy rights.

An ordinary dismissal can be an actual dismissal or a constructive dismissal. If an actual dismissal has taken place, an employer will have ended the contract of employment of the employee. If a fixed term contract expires without being renewed then this will count as a dismissal; there will also be a dismissal if an employee’s fixed term contract is terminated under a break clause in the contract. If a constructive dismissal has taken place then the employer will have done something which amounts to breach of contract and the employee has then chosen to leave in response.

The fact that there has been a dismissal needs to be established in order to work out if you are eligible to present certain types of claims in an employment tribunal, such as for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal. The burden of establishing that there has been a dismissal rests with the employee. In some circumstances, particularly in the case of constructive dismissal, you may need an employment solicitor to help you work out if there has been a dismissal.

Redundancies are ordinarily made in response to changed operational requirements of the business which mean that the role is no longer required. In the case of redundancy, an employee must show that they have been dismissed in order to be entitled to a redundancy payment. There are also other facts that need to be established by the employee in order to have a valid claim for redundancy, including the need to have two years’ continuous service. In some cases, if the employer hasn’t followed a proper procedure or has in some other way breached an employee’s redundancy rights, then the redundancy can be unfair and will count as an unfair dismissal; an employer should get advice from an employment solicitor before making redundancies to avoid these types of claims.