You cannot avoid all the problems but with proper planning and advice many difficulties can be prevented. R ecord awards have recently been made in discrimination cases. Sex discrimination includes harassment where employers can be liable for the actions of their employees. T his is a relatively new and growing area of the law which will almost certainly become more important over the years. A combination of the law relating to sexual harassment and the Protection from Harassment Act imposes substantial burdens on employers to ensure that not only do they act properly but also that their employers do so.
T here are a number of potentially fair grounds for dismissal including redundancy for example.
The problem for most employers is that more often than not they have good grounds for a dismissal but lose at Industrial Tribunals because the dismissal was procedurally unfair. In effect the employer loses on a technicality which is relatively easy to overcome. T here is a strict legal definition of redundancy . Putting it into practice is much more difficult. There are obligations on employers to consult with trade unions and with the employees concerned and the conduct of the process of redundancy must itself be fair.