Written by Lyndsey McLaughlin – HR Manager
Redundancies are increasing in the UK and according to an Acas study, 33% of British employers said they will consider making staff redundancies by January 2027. In large organisations, the number is higher at 46%.
However, businesses should be aware that they can’t just make redundancies for the sake of it, they must have legitimate reasons or they could find themselves in trouble. These are some of the legitimate reasons for making redundancies.
When Mark Neill’s wife gave birth to their second son, he should have been focused on the joy of welcoming a new child into the family. Instead, nine days later, he received a three-minute phone call that ended his 12-year career at Rockstar Games — the gaming giant behind the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Neill was one of 34 workers summarily dismissed by Rockstar on October 30 and 31 last year — just days before the company announced that the highly anticipated GTA 6 would be delayed. The official reason? Alleged leaking of confidential information. But the dismissed workers and their union, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), are telling a very different story: one of illegal union-busting, procedural cruelty, and a blatant disregard for workers’ rights.
In a landmark ruling that will resonate in staff rooms and HR departments across the country, a former Nestle employee has secured over £22,000 in compensation after being unfairly dismissed for allegedly vaping in the workplace toilets. The case of Luke Billings is more than just a dispute over an e-cigarette; it is a powerful reminder that workers are not expendable cogs in a machine, and that even the largest corporations must treat their employees with basic dignity and fairness.
Billings, a technical operator with an "unblemished career" spanning over a decade at Nestle’s facility in Derbyshire, was sacked for gross misconduct in October 2023. The accusation? That he had been vaping in the toilets, an act that prompted a factory evacuation and a temporary halt in production. While Nestle’s investigation was deemed "reasonable" in suspecting Billings, the employment tribunal’s judgment cut to the heart of why modern employment law exists: to protect workers from disproportionate and dehumanising corporate power.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said Parliament will investigate union-busting allegations against Rockstar Games, following the studio's dismissal of 31 Grand Theft Auto 6 developers in October.
The issue was raised in Parliament on December 10 by local MP, Chris Murray. He informed the Prime Minister: "The video games company Rockstar in my constituency last month fired 31 employees without providing evidence or union representation. The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain] IWGB alleges union busting."
An administrator has had an unfair dismissal claim upheld after being dismissed for using work devices for online shopping during working hours. The case raises important questions about workers’ rights, proper disciplinary processes and employer surveillance.
