Employees and Employers: Redeployment
Redeployment
We have previously written about redundancy in our article Employees: When do I start thinking redundancy?
Redeployment is an important step in the redundancy process.
If a redundancy is a “genuine redundancy” under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), that will be a defence to an unfair dismissal claim by an employee and an employer can raise a jurisdictional. On the other hand, if the steps for a “genuine redundancy” are not taken, an employee can argue the dismissal was not a fair dismissal.
A redundancy will not be a genuine redundancy unless particular redeployment steps have been taken by an employer.
Redeployment: What is Needed?
A person's dismissal was not a case of genuine redundancy if it would have been reasonable in all the circumstances for the person to be redeployed within:
the employer's enterprise; or
the enterprise of an associated entity of the employer.
An employer must go through the steps of exploring redeployment options in its enterprise and the enterprise of its associated entities. There should also be business records to support the steps that have been taken.
General and Contact Information
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Written by Angus Macpherson
