Job losses are leading to increased unfair dismissal claims, says lawyer

04/02/2009

The increased number of job losses has led to three times as many unfair dismissal claims, says specialist insurer Hiscox.

It notes small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often failing to follow the correct procedure when cutting jobs.

According to Hiscox, the most common mistakes made by employers were failing to follow the correct consultation and selection processes and making people redundant without a genuine reason.

Gary Head, SME expert at Hiscox, said: "In the current downturn we have seen a noticeable increase in claims from employers being sued by former employees."

Mr Head noted this was often because smaller firms did not have access to the HR function found in larger companies.

He also commented that many managers may not have experienced a recession "where redundancy is a fact of working life".

The Trades Union Council has recently launched a comprehensive package of advice for workers forced to leave their post.

General secretary Brendan Barber said he hoped the publications will "make union advice on redundancy available to all".

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