In the recent case of Rentplus UK v Coulson, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) upheld the Tribunal’s earlier decision to award a 25% uplift to the compensation award for failure to comply with the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. The Tribunal had concluded strongly that “the dismissal process was a total sham, that dismissal was pre-determined and that there was absolutely nothing that the Claimant could say to prevent her dismissal.”

This case should be a clear warning to all employers that “going through the motions” will not be sufficient to avoid an unfair dismissal claim. When seeking to make a dismissal on the grounds of “redundancy”, you need to engage with the consultation process and demonstrate that you have genuinely considered if there is in fact a redundancy situation, or if there is another reason behind the dismissal.

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