Tribunal awarded reinstatement two years after dismissal

An employer has been ordered by a tribunal to reinstate a legal secretary two-and-a-half years after she was dismissed.
The employee, a legal secretary, started working for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as a legal secretary in August 2003. From 2010 onwards, she given written warnings for talking about employees behind their backs.

In April 2013, the Council services were merged with another Borough, reducing the number of legal secretaries required. Ramos Alvarez applied for one of the positions but was not successful and was selected for redundancy. The tribunal found that the selection criteria had been wrongly applied and that she should have been retained.

The tribunal agreed that she had been unfairly and agreed that she should be awarded £26,508.
However, she argued to be reinstated in her job and the tribunal ruled that, not only should the council reinstate the legal her (and back date her pay) but also restore all her pension rights and seniority.

This case demonstrates that employees are entitled to request to be reinstated rather than seek compensation – and this may become more likely if the employee has been dismissed from a job that is regarded as well paid, with good benefits. In this case the employee wished to return to what she regarded as a rewarding and fulfilling role rather than receive an award and have to find a new job.