This comes up time and time again. You are called into your bosses office and told due to the downturn you are being made redundant. Thing is you told your boss only recently about a major issue you were having at work and the next thing you know you are being let go? Something not right there or is it all in your head?

The law says Redundancy is an absolute bar to an Unfair Dismissal claim. In other words, your boss will say he has to make you redundant because of the decrease in work and this means he is not open to a claim for Unfair Dismissal. He must prove though crucially that you werent unfairly selected for Redundancy or that there was no personal element to it. He cant hide behind the “cloak” of redundancy to get rid of you.

Additionally, there must be consultation. This is less clear, but to my mind, if an Employer wants to protect himself completely from a claim then he should consult with you before letting you go. See is there some other role in the business you can do or whether you have any ideas about saving your job.

Shane Healy, Head of Employment, Healy O’Connor Solicitors, Cork and Dublin.