Redundancy: Flexibility clause does not preclude redundancy

An employee who was employed under his contract as a roofer was dismissed by reason of redundancy when his employer's roofing work diminished, notwithstanding that the contract provided for him to undertake other work as required, holds the EAT in Johnson v Peabody Trust [1996] IRLR 387. In applying the "contract test" to establish whether a redundancy situation has arisen, a tribunal should construe the contract in a commonsense way to ascertain the essential nature of the employee's work under that contract, says the EAT.