• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Call us now: 01243 836 840   [email protected]
Pure Employment Law
  • Who We Are
    • Nicola Brown
    • Peter Stevens
    • Elena Elsam
    • David Jones
    • Linda Nye
    • Brenda Cherry
  • For Employers
    • Advice on HR and People issues
    • Investigations, Hearings and Appeals
    • Restructuring and Redundancy
    • Defending Employment Tribunal Claims
    • Dismissal of Senior Executives
    • Contracts, Handbooks and Policies
    • Employment Law Training
  • For Employees
    • Settlement Agreements
    • Workplace Issues including Disciplinary and Grievance
    • Bringing an Employment Tribunal Claim
  • Employment Law Events
  • Legal Updates
  • Testimonials
  • Vacancies
  • Contact us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

What is bumping?

26th June 2013/in News /by Nicola Brown

At our recent workshops on the ‘3 Rs’ (redundancy, restructure and reorganisation) one of the questions that came up was about bumping. It is something many people have heard of in theory, but it is rarely applied in practice. We thought we would try and shed some light on this area, using a helpful recent case to illustrate some of the potential pitfalls.

A redundancy situation arises where there is a reduction in the employer’s need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind. There is not necessarily a requirement for the employee who is dismissed to have been carrying out the particular type of work that has diminished. This means that ‘bumping’ can occur – where one employee (A) is made redundant so that another employee (B) can be retained in A’s role – and that this is potentially a fair reason for dismissing A.

As you can imagine, bumping is highly likely to be challenged by employee A, so that is one reason why employers usually steer clear. Over the years there have been a number of cases regarding whether an employer is obliged to bump, or at least consider bumping. The current position is that there is no obligation on an employer to use bumping, but in some circumstances it should be considered (particularly where employee B raises the possibility).

The recent case of Contract Bottling v Cave and others [2013] dealt with the fairness of bumping. Contract Bottling is a drinks company and was having financial difficulties, meaning that redundancies were required. Unusually, the company decided that it would put all of its employees into a single selection pool, regardless of their role or skills, and that out of the 10 staff at the time, 4 would be made redundant. If the retained staff did not have the skills to carry out the remaining roles, they would be trained. The two Claimants in the case both worked in accounts, and after they were dismissed other members of staff had to be trained up in order to cover that function.

The two Claimants argued that they had been unfairly dismissed. The Employment Tribunal said that they were not convinced that there was a genuine redundancy situation at all, and they also had several criticisms of the way that the company handled the selection and redundancy process. Therefore, the dismissals were found unfair. The company appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal looked at the case law on bumping and found that the situation did meet the definition of redundancy, because although the requirement for the individual employees’ jobs had not necessarily ceased or diminished, the dismissals did result from a reduction in work of a particular kind. Although they agreed with some of the criticisms of the process, they found that the company had clearly had genuine financial difficulties and the Employment Tribunal had not adequately considered the possibility that dismissal would have been the outcome in any event (the Polkey principle). The case was therefore sent back to the Employment Tribunal to look further at the issue of compensation.

The case illustrates that there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to redundancy and restructure, and although the dismissals were ultimately found to be unfair the principle of bumping was not necessarily a problem. We suspect however that it would have been easier and less risky for the company to take a more straightforward approach and pool the employees by function rather than creating one large selection pool.

We can advise on redundancies including the process and selection. If you would like to talk through a situation you are dealing with, or if you need advice, please contact any member of the Pure Employment Law team (01243 836840 or [email protected]).

Please note that this update is not intended to be exhaustive or be a substitute for legal advice. The application of the law in this area will often depend upon the specific facts and you are advised to seek specific advice on any given scenario.

 

Share this article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.pureemploymentlaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pure-Employment-Law-logo.jpg 0 0 Nicola Brown https://www.pureemploymentlaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pure-Employment-Law-logo.jpg Nicola Brown2013-06-26 12:49:342014-12-03 15:35:56What is bumping?

Join our mailing list

* = required field
Mailing Lists


Recent Legal Updates

  • FAQs about COT3s 18th December 2020
  • Can an employer withdraw a notice of redundancy? 18th December 2020
  • Will employers be able to insist that staff have the Covid-19 vaccination? 18th December 2020
  • Furlough over Christmas? 18th December 2020
  • Update – Furlough scheme extended 18th December 2020
Link to: Contact Us

Any questions? Why not get in touch!

Our advice is always given in plain English without any waffle, and we focus on providing practical solutions to our clients’ problems.

Contact us

LEGAL INFORMATION

Pure Employment Law | 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH
[email protected] | Tel: 01243 836840

Pure Employment Law is the trading name of Pure Employment Law Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 07134294 and whose registered office is 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH. Pure Employment Law Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 533794. A list of the company’s directors is available for inspection at the registered office

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Pure Employment Law and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions | How to make a complaint | Sitemap

© Pure Employment Law 2021

Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies as defined in our cookie policy.

Accept Cookie Policy

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only