To Bump or Not to Bump? A Redundancy Selection Question

Does an employee need to ask their employer to be redeployed into another role and 'bump' a colleague into redundancy?

Bumping occurs when an employee whose role is at risk of redundancy is moved into an alternative role - and the individual in that alternative role is dismissed as redundant instead.

The case of Mirab v Mentor Graphics (UK) Limited looked at how bumping works in practice - and when an employer needs to take it into account. Specifically, the question that the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) looked at was whether an employee needed to ask his employer to consider allowing him to be redeployed into another role and 'bump' another employee into redundancy, in order for that employer to be under an obligation to consider bumping as part of running a fair redundancy process.

The EAT concluded that there was no specific rule saying that an employer must always consider bumping in order to fairly dismiss on the grounds of redundancy. Similarly, however, there is no requirement for the employee himself to ask for bumping before the employer is placed under an obligation to consider it. Whether bumping is something that an employer ought to investigate and implement entirely depends on the particular facts of the case, and whether the possibility of redeployment - and bumping - is a reasonable response to the employee being placed at risk of redundancy.

Best Practice

Whilst it may not be suitable in every circumstance where redundancy is considered, the EAT's decision does mean that employers should consider the possibility of redeploying a redundant employee into another employee's role as part of its general consideration of the alternatives to redundancy that might be available. Employers are well advised not to simply discount the prospect of bumping until the employee suggests it as a way to avoid their dismissal.

For further information please contact Gareth Edwards in our Employment Law team on 0117 314 5220.