This winter, tens of thousands of people will lose their jobs. Many will be told that they are being made redundant as a result of the downturn when, in fact, they will have been targeted for the chop by bosses. Others will be fired for reasons that, in a time of economic boom, would otherwise be overlooked.
The office Christmas party season, for instance, could bring with it more than its usual share of dismissals of staff who get drunk and behave badly.
"You are probably much more at risk than you have been for many years," says Michael Burd, joint head of employment at solicitor Lewis Silkin. "Many more employers are under pressure to shed staff. If you give them a good reason, they may just jump on it."
- Cases where employees believe they may have a grievance after losing their job fall into three separate categories:
- Employees who are told they are being made redundant when, in reality, their employer simply wants to get rid of them.
- Those who are dismissed in order to save employers having to fork out a large redundancy package.
- Workers who are dismissed after allegations that they stole from their employer.
Independent