UNISON response on Finance and Resources

UNISON is being consulted on redundancies in Lambeth's Finance and Resources Directorate. These (below) were the comments submitted by UNISON to the Executive Director of Finance accompanying detailed counter proposals for several of the divisions within the Directorate; UNISON has now submitted comments on those areas of the Directorate where we have definite or provisional proposals to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies which are threatened. These proposals have been made in the context of your duty to consult “with a view to reaching agreement” about ways to avoid or reduce redundancies. Their combined effect is to save 33 filled posts, removing 52 staff from risk of redundancy and saving, in total £125,000 more than the management proposals. Reducing redundancies The UNISON proposals are made in order to reduce the number of threatened redundancies, and for the reasons set out in each of the divisional responses. Given the requirements of s188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to consult “with a view to reaching agreement” on ways of avoiding or reducing redundancies, UNISON expects serious engagement with our comments and counter proposals and looks forward to further urgent discussion during the management review period. A failure to give serious consideration to the UNISON proposals would not be consistent with s188 of the Act and could lead to action by the trade union in accordance with s189, as well as making it more likely that any redundancy dismissals might be found to be unfair, having regard to s98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Gender Equality Duty The UNISON proposals also have the impact of reducing the disproportionate risk of redundancy to women workers as the net reduction in women workers at risk of redundancy is 38 and the net reduction in male workers at risk of redundancy is 14. Adoption of the UNISON counter proposals would therefore go some way to mitigate the discriminatory impact of the current management proposals and would be consistent with the Council’s duty under s76A(1) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. (This has now been replaced by the general duty in the new Equality Act since last week) A failure to give serious consideration to the UNISON proposals would not be consistent with the Council’s gender equality duty, and could increase the likelihood that redundancy dismissals of women employees in Finance and Resources could be found to amount to unlawful indirect discrimination contrary to s39(2)(c) of the Equality Act 2010 read with s19 of that Act.