Re-engagement Orders

In Home Office v Khan and another UKEAT/0257/07, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) held that orders for re-engagement in unfair dismissal claims should specify the nature of the job into which an employee is to be re-engaged.

Mrs Khan and Mrs King had been employed as interpreters by the Home Office for 20 years. Both employees were made redundant following a decision by the Home Office to use freelance interpreters.

The EAT found that the re-engagement of both employees was not impracticable and upheld the re-engagement order made by the Tribunal. The EAT was concerned, however, that the re-engagement order was too focused on laying down the process of re-engagement and did not adequately set out the nature of the employment into which the employees were to be re-engaged. It was therefore uncertain whether the Tribunal had determined that the jobs into which both employees would be re-engaged were "comparable" or "suitable" to their previous jobs.