How to prepare a retrenchment challenge
You want a checklist of what to gather before you respond to your retrenchment.
Your retrenchment case rests on two questions: was the redundancy genuine, and was your selection fair. A checklist built around those two saves time and makes your first talk with a lawyer far more useful.
What documents establish the basic facts?
Start with your retrenchment notice, employment contract and recent payslips. They show your role, your length of service and the terms you were offered.
Keep the original files, not only screenshots. Originals are easier to verify later.
What comparison should you build against colleagues?
List colleagues in similar roles, noting who was kept and who was let go, and roughly how long each had served. This shows whether Last In First Out was really applied.1
Even an incomplete list gives a lawyer something to build on.
What evidence supports or challenges a genuine redundancy?
Save job postings for similar roles, public hiring announcements, and any sign the company is growing, not shrinking. This kind of evidence can support an argument that the redundancy was not genuine.
What should you keep about your own performance?
Keep good appraisals, feedback or recognition. They help answer any suggestion that performance, not redundancy, explains your selection.
In an unfair dismissal case, your employer has to show just cause or excuse for the dismissal.2
Is a witness account worth gathering too?
If a colleague heard a relevant conversation, such as your manager explaining the selection, note their name and what they know. A short supporting account can carry weight later.
You do not need a formal statement now. You only need enough detail to reach them again.
What should you do this week?
Put your documents and comparison list in one folder, and confirm your deadline with the deadline calculator. Read your rights after a retrenchment and what to do after your notice before you file a Section 20 representation.
At an agreed consultation with an identified lawyer, bring everything to an independent employment lawyer, even if it feels incomplete. They can review it and act if there are grounds.
If you are preparing a claim over your retrenchment, an independent employment lawyer can review the notice and the reason given, and act for you if you have grounds.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Common questions
What is the most useful document to prepare?
A written comparison of your role, length of service and performance with those of colleagues who were kept on. No other document organises a case as well.
Should I gather evidence about the company's wider situation?
Yes, if you can. Evidence that similar roles are still being hired can support an argument that the redundancy was not genuine, so save job postings and public announcements.
What if I do not have much information about other colleagues?
Gather what you can, even informally, and a lawyer can advise on what else might be obtainable. Partial information is still a useful starting point.
Should I keep records of my own performance too?
Yes. Good appraisals or feedback help answer any suggestion that performance, not redundancy, was the real reason you were selected.
Sources
- Last In First Out is the conventional, objective principle for choosing who is retrenched, and an employer who departs from it is expected to justify the decision with sound reasons. Richard Wee Chambers
- In an unfair dismissal case, the burden of proof rests on the employer to show just cause or excuse for the dismissal. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
Keep reading
If you are preparing a claim over your retrenchment, an independent employment lawyer can review the notice and the reason given, and act for you if you have grounds.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.