Williams v Compair Maxam Ltd [1982] ICR 156 [1] is a UK labour law case, concerning unfair dismissal, now governed by the Employment Rights Act 1996.
In considering whether the decision of an industrial tribunal is perverse in a legal sense, there is one feature which does not occur in other jurisdictions where there is a right of appeal only on a point of law.
The lay members of the Industrial Tribunal bring to their task their expertise in a field where conventions and practices are of the greatest importance.
This is not a matter on which the chairman of this appeal tribunal feels that he can contribute much, since it depends on what industrial practices are currently accepted as being normal and proper.
The basic approach is that, in the unfortunate circumstances that necessarily attend redundancies, as much as is reasonably possible should be done to mitigate the impact on the work force and to satisfy them that the selection has been made fairly and not on the basis of personal whim.The judgment of the case and its summary have often been cited by many legal organisations and unions to explain workers' rights when they are made redundant,[2][3][4] and in some cases when this judgment may not apply.