Challenge criteria before scoring
Comment on vague, irrelevant or apparently outcome-driven criteria during consultation rather than waiting until the final ranking is announced.
REDUNDANCY SELECTION
A genuine restructure does not give an employer a free hand to choose who goes.
Selection becomes important when there are fewer roles than employees, or where new roles must be filled from an affected group. The restructure may have a genuine business basis and the selection exercise may still be unfair if the criteria, scoring or consultation are defective.
START WITH THE REAL ISSUE
What this situation actually means.
Employment New Zealand says employees should be selected for roles in a fair and reasonable way. Where a selection process is used, employees and unions should have an opportunity to comment on what the process will involve, how it will happen and the proposed selection criteria.
The official guidance says selection criteria should be objectively measurable. That does not mean every criterion must be a simple numeric metric, but the employer should be able to explain what was assessed, what evidence was used and how employees were compared consistently.
Selection is also not the end of the restructure process. The employer should still consider redeployment and other alternatives to redundancy. A poor score for one contested role does not automatically answer whether another available role should have been offered or properly assessed.
WHAT MATTERS
Four things to check before deciding what the case is worth.
Ask for the evidence behind your score
A score should be capable of explanation. Compare it with objective performance records, qualifications, experience and any material the employer said would be used.
Check consistency and conflicts
Identify who scored each employee, whether the same standard was used, and whether a manager involved in a recent dispute had disproportionate influence.
Keep redeployment separate
Even if you are not selected for a reduced pool or new role, ask what other vacancies exist and why you can or cannot be redeployed into them.
WHAT TO DO NOW
Keep the next steps practical.
Get the proposed process
Save the proposed criteria, weighting, scoring scale, assessors, timetable and role descriptions before the consultation deadline.
Submit specific criteria feedback
Explain why a criterion is vague, irrelevant, duplicative or difficult to measure, and propose a better alternative where possible.
Request your result and supporting basis
Keep the scoring sheet and ask for the material used to reach each significant score, subject to legitimate confidentiality issues.
Respond before finalisation
Correct factual errors and raise comparator, conflict, disability/accommodation or redeployment issues while the employer can still genuinely reconsider the result.
RED FLAGS
Facts that deserve a closer look.
- CHECK
Criteria are changed after management sees provisional scores
- CHECK
A criterion appears designed around one preferred employee
- CHECK
Scores conflict with recent objective performance records
- CHECK
No opportunity is given to comment on the criteria or your result
- CHECK
Different assessors use different standards
- CHECK
A manager with a live dispute or obvious conflict controls the scoring
- CHECK
Redeployment is treated as irrelevant once ranking is complete
FAQ
Questions people ask in this situation.
Can my employer choose the best person in a redundancy restructure?
A selection process can be used where fewer or materially different roles remain, but Employment New Zealand says the process must be fair and reasonable and affected employees should be consulted about the proposed process and criteria.
Do redundancy selection criteria have to be objective?
Employment New Zealand says selection criteria should be objectively measurable. Ask how each criterion is defined and what evidence will be used to score it.
Am I entitled to see my redundancy score?
Employment New Zealand says employees should be given the results of the selection process and an opportunity to comment on the result they receive. The precise disclosure of other employees' information can involve privacy and confidentiality issues.
What if my manager gave me an unfair score?
Challenge the factual basis, identify objective contrary evidence, raise any conflict or inconsistency, and do so before the final decision where possible so the employer has a genuine opportunity to reconsider.
REDUNDANCY SELECTION
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