Court of Appeal confirms using length of service in redundancy selection can be justified

Law-Now
18.05.2009

In November last year, we reported that the High Court had ruled in Rolls-Royce v Unite that using length of service as a redundancy selection criterion can be lawful, but that this was subject to appeal. Last week, the Court of Appeal dismissed Rolls-Royce’s appeal against the decision.

This confirms that although using length of service as a criterion is potentially unlawful age discrimination, it can be justified where it is one of a substantial number of other criteria and is not necessarily a determinative factor. Although the case dealt specifically with agreed selection criteria in a collective agreement, in the current economic climate this is clearly an important case for all employers to be aware of in formulating and applying their redundancy schemes.

To view our previous Law-Now on this case, which sets out the facts and issues in more detail, please click here.

For further information, please contact:


	Sarah Ozanne Partner, Employment London +44 (0)20 7367 2650 View my CV


	Amy Bird Associate, Employment London +44 (0)20 7367 2381

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Court of Appeal confirms using length of service in redundancy selection can be justified

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