Unfair dismissal remedies: EAT addresses limits of "Polkey" reductions

Reasonableness: Employer need not actively consider consultation

Date:

1 November 1994

In Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd, the House of Lords ruled that a redundancy dismissal will usually be unfair if the employee was not warned or consulted prior to dismissal. But the Lords said there may be exceptions to this rule where the employer, at the time of dismissal, could reasonably take the view that consultation or warnings would be useless.