Redundancies are a stressful process to go through, for everyone involved. There is generally an accepted process you should follow, although the requirements change depending on whether there are more or less than 20 people being made redundant (in a 90-day period). Here, we look at the situation where fewer than 20 are affected.

Ultimately, you need to be certain you're doing the right thing for the business, and the right thing for the people you are making redundant. Once you embark on the process, it can be hard to back-track. Therefore, you should carefully plan and think through all the implications before you announce it to the staff or make any final decisions.

You must always act fairly and reasonably when making redundancies and must follow certain procedures.

If you fail in your duties, your business will be vulnerable to legal action that could mean paying out large amounts in compensation.

If you are considering making staff redundant, it is important to understand the law and your obligations, and we suggest you seek specialist legal advice. 

When making redundancy decisions, you need to:

1. Ensure the redundancy is genuine - this means that the role(s) is no longer needed and cannot be replaced. This means you should not be planning to recruit a replacement.

2. Fully consult with employees who may be affected by the redundancy - this can be done through individual or group consultations depending on the particular situation you are in, and the number of staff affected. It would be usual to announce to the affected group and then commence individual 1:1 consultation meetings.

3. Offer staff the right to be accompanied at any meetings – this can be by a work colleague or trade union official. While this may not technically be a legal requirement, it is a good idea and helps those who may struggle with the process. You should also consider offering staff who have a disability the right to be accompanied at meetings, as a reasonable adjustment.

4. Fairly choose who to make redundant – if you need to select those to be made redundant, you must do so based on objective criteria such as skills, experience, performance, or conduct. If challenged, you will need to be able to justify and evidence the selection. Redundancy should not be used to try and quickly exit someone who is underperforming.

5. Look for suitable alternative employment - this means trying to find alternative employment that you can offer to those at risk of redundancy. If a role can be found, then it can be offered on a trial period. [link to trial period article]. You should also consider any other alternatives to redundancy, such as retraining.

6. Consider offering an appeal – while not technically required, this is seen as the right thing to do and will allow the employee(s) being made redundant the opportunity to challenge their dismissal internally rather than going to Tribunal, and it may assist in preventing a claim.

7. Pay all sums due – those made redundant will be entitled to a period of notice, accrued holiday pay and statutory redundancy pay (if applicable).

Article by

Marianne Wright

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Disclaimer 

The above provides a general overview relating to constructive dismissal and is not intended nor construed as providing specific legal advice. Constructive unfair dismissal is a complicated legal claim. An individual should take legal advice from an employment lawyer if they believe their employer has behaved in such a way that entitles the employee to resign and bring a claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

This article is for information purposes only and is correct at the time of publication. It does not constitute legal advice.

27.03.2023