I Have To Make Some Of My Staff Redundant, What Rules Do I Need To Follow?

Being made redundant can be a very stressful experience for those being made redundant as well as for any remaining workforce, and so it is important to be sure that redundancy is unavoidable.

It may be possible to reduce or avoid redundancies by:

• offering voluntary redundancy
• changing working hours
• moving employees into other roles
• letting go of temporary or contract workers
• limiting or stopping overtime
• not hiring any new employees

You are entitled to make staff redundant if you have ceased, or intend to cease continuing the business, or the work performed by employees in a location that they are employed has, or soon will, cease or diminish.

If your staff have been employed by you for two years or more, at the time their employment will end, then you must follow a fair redundancy process. It is advisable to have a redundancy process available in your Staff Handbook, and to follow this so that your staff are aware of the process that will be followed. Your process must include details of:

• how you will choose people for redundancy
• how long the process will take
• what meetings will be held and when
• how staff can appeal if they are chosen for redundancy

Face to face meeting

A fair redundancy process will include a face to face meeting during which you need to discuss the following with your staff member/s:

• why you need to make redundancies
• why you are considering the individual staff member for redundancy
• other jobs that are available
• any questions they may have about next steps

Your staff may wish to bring someone from their Union or HR to this meeting to help them take notes.

A Fair Selection Process

Fair selection processes for redundancies include:

• asking for volunteers
• last in, first out (employees with the shortest length of service are selected first)
• staff appraisal scores, skills, qualifications & experience
• disciplinary records

Note: if you are closing down a whole operation in a company and making all the employees working in it redundant, or there is only one employee in the part of the organisation that is being closed, then you will not be required to follow a selection process.

A Suitable Alternative Position

If you have a suitable alternative position you must offer this to the employees that are being made redundant.

Unfair Dismissal

If your employees were employed by your business for over two years, and you fail to consult with the employees affected by the redundancies then they have a right to claim for unfair dismissal.

If you select for redundancy due to any of the following reasons then your employees will have a right to claim for unfair dismissal:

• Sex
• gender reassignment
• marital status
• sexual orientation
• Race
• Disability
• religion or belief
• Age
• membership or non-membership of a trade union
• health and safety activities
• working pattern, for example part-time or fixed-term employees
• maternity leave (birth or pregnancy)
• paternity leave, parental or dependants leave
• exercising your statutory rights
• Whistleblowing
• taking part in lawful industrial action lasting 12 weeks or less
• taking action on health and safety grounds
• doing jury service
• trustees of a company pension scheme

In Summary

Redundancy could be judged as unfair if you:

• don’t have a process
• don’t meet your employees individually
• only meet your employees to tell them that you’re making them redundant
• have a process that doesn’t contain enough information
• have a process but don’t follow it - unless you have a good reason to do things differently
• select for redundancy unfairly

The above is a very basic overview of the rules you should follow when making redundancies. If you are at all unsure of the best way to proceed it is best to consult an expert.

If you are having to make redundancies in your organisation and would like advice on what to do and support during the process, then call us on Bingley 01274 723858, Ilkley 01943 601173 or Bradford 01274 735511.

Additionally, if you do not have the processes in place ready for if you have to make redundancies, then we can assist with this and many more employment law issues and procedures.