In the case of Fulcrum Pharma (Europe) Ltd v Bonassera and another UKEAT/0198/10 (http://bit.ly/8ZJXx4) the EAT held that it was wrong for an employer to automatically decide that the pool should only consist of the employee holding the position it has decided to remove from its structure,  There are circumstances where the employer should include more junior employees and consider bumping. 

In this case an employers HR department consisted of two employees an HR manager and HR executive.  The HR manager had previously carried out the executive’s duties.  The employer did not include the HR executive in the selection pool.

 The EAT held that when deciding whether or not a more junior employee should be included in a redundancy pool (with a view to potentially “bumping” the employee holding the redundant position into the more junior employee’s position), the correct approach is to follow the guidelines laid down by the EAT previously in the case of Lionel Leventhal Ltd v North UKEAT/0265/04.  In particular the employer should have regard to: 

1. Whether or not there is a vacancy.
2. How different the two jobs are.
3. The difference in remuneration between them.
4. The relative length of service of the two employees.
5. The qualifications of the employee in danger of redundancy.
6. Any other factors applying to the particular case

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