Marks & Spencer redundancies

Marks and Spencer confirmed yesterday it intends to cut 525 head office jobs to ensure the business can work more simply and efficiently.

M&S CEO, Steve Rowe said: “It is never easy to propose changes that impact on our people, but I believe that the proposals outlined today are absolutely necessary and will help us build a different type of M&S – one that can take bolder, pacier decisions, be more profitable and ultimately better serve our customers. “We remain committed to investing in store staffing and improving our customer experience and therefore our store colleagues are not affected by this proposal.”

The business will now enter into a period of consultation with the workforce. For further information, please click here.

Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal. However, a dismissal on the grounds of redundancy may be unfair if an employer fails to adopt a fair selection criteria, consult with employees and consider alternatives to dismissal. On the issue of alternative work, the employer’s duty is not limited to offering similar positions in the same workplace and it should consider the availability of any vacancies with associated employers (Vokes v Bear [1973] IRLR 363).

We regularly advise employees and senior executives on all stages of the redundancy process, including the terms of their settlement agreements, which are normally issued to employees if they are dismissed by reason of redundancy. If you are at risk of redundancy and would like advice on the consultation process and your options, then please contact our specialist employment solicitors today on 0207 956 8699 for a confidential no obligation discussion.