Preparing To Challenge A Retrenchment
You want a clear checklist of what to gather before you decide how to respond to your retrenchment.
A useful checklist here focuses on genuine redundancy and selection fairness, the two questions your retrenchment case is actually built around.
A focused list saves time later, and it makes your first conversation with a lawyer far more productive than a vague summary of events would be.
What documents establish the basic facts?
Start with your retrenchment notice, your employment contract, and your recent pay slips. These establish your role, your tenure, and the terms you were offered, which anchors everything else you gather afterward.
Keep the original files where you can, rather than only screenshots, since originals are easier to verify later if needed.
What comparison should you build against colleagues?
List colleagues in similar roles, noting who was retained and who was let go, along with each person’s approximate length of service. This comparison is central to assessing whether Last In First Out was actually applied1.
Even an informal, incomplete list is a useful starting point for a lawyer to work from and build on.
What evidence supports or challenges a genuine redundancy?
Job postings for similar roles, public announcements about hiring, or any sign the company is expanding rather than contracting are all worth saving. This kind of evidence can support an argument that the redundancy was not genuine.
What should you keep about your own performance?
Positive appraisals, feedback, or recognition you received can help counter any suggestion that performance, rather than genuine redundancy, explains your selection. Your employer still carries the burden of showing the redundancy and selection were fair2.
Is a witness account worth gathering too?
If any colleague witnessed relevant conversations, such as your manager discussing the selection reasoning, note their name and what they know. A brief supporting account from someone else can carry real weight later in the process.
You do not need a formal statement immediately, only enough detail to reach them again if it becomes necessary.
What should you do this week?
Put your documents and comparison list into one folder, and confirm your deadline using the deadline calculator. Read your rights after a retrenchment and what to do after your notice before filing a Section 20 representation.
Bring everything you have gathered to a lawyer, even if it feels incomplete, so nothing useful gets left out of the conversation.
A lawyer can review what you have gathered and tell you where your case is strongest and where it still needs support.
Common questions
What is the most useful document to prepare?
A written comparison between your role, tenure, and performance, and those of colleagues who were retained. This single document does more to organise a case than any other piece of preparation.
Should I gather evidence about the company's wider situation?
Yes, if you can, since evidence that similar roles are still being hired can support an argument that the redundancy was not genuine. Job postings and public announcements are worth saving.
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 for review.
Should I keep records of my own performance too?
Yes, positive appraisals or feedback can help counter any suggestion that performance, rather than genuine redundancy, was the real reason behind your selection.
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
A lawyer can review what you have gathered and tell you where your case is strongest and where it still needs support.