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Making staff redundant isn’t something that businesses take lightly. But sometimes it’s unavoidable.

If you no longer need someone to carry out a particular job, your business is closing, or you are downsizing, you may need to make staff redundant.

The redundancy process can seem daunting. There are a number of rules and regulations that you legally must follow. And it’s important you get it right. If you don’t follow the correct redundancy procedures, you risk facing a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal.

Our specialist employment law team can provide the legal support you need, guiding you through the redundancy process carefully and reliably.

If you need to make employees redundant, you must follow the process below, ensuring you keep evidence of your actions.

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Before committing to redundancy, you should explore any other options. Is there a way to avoid making redundancies?

You should consider options such as stopping overtime, retraining staff for alternative roles reducing hours worked, implementing pay freezes, and stopping using casual labour. If redundancy is unavoidable, you should also consider asking for volunteers.

Consultation

Once you’ve established that redundancy is the only option, you will need to consult with staff, letting them know what’s happening and hearing their views. If you are making more than 20 employees redundant, you will need to carry out a group consultation.

Let staff know they are at risk

Identify which members of staff are at risk of redundancy and let them know. At this stage, you will need to carefully explain the redundancy process to them.

Choose staff for redundancy

Next, you’ll need to go through the at risk staff members and decide who will be made redundant. This must be done using a fair selection criteria, usually taking the following into account:

  • Skills, qualifications, and ability
  • Performance
  • Attendance
  • Disciplinary record

Statutory notice

The employees chosen for redundancy must be given notice. The minimum notice period depends on how long they have worked for you. If they have been employed for one month to two years, they must be given at least one week’s notice. They must be given an extra week for every year they’ve been employed between 2 and 12 years. For anyone who has been employed for longer than 12 years, the notice period must be at least 12 weeks.

Notice pay

During the notice period, employees must be paid, even if you don’t want them to work.

Redundancy pay

Any employees who have worked for your business for at least two years are entitled to redundancy pay. The amount they are entitled to will depend on their age and how long they have worked for the business.

They will be entitled to:

  • 5 weeks’ pay for each full year of employment after their 41st birthday
  • 1 week’s pay for each full year of employment after their 22nd birthday
  • 5 week’s pay for each full year of employment up to their 22nd birthday

Some businesses may be unable to pay redundancy because it would cause the business to become insolvent. If this is the case, the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service may lend you the money.

Our skilled and experienced team of employment law experts will help you navigate the redundancy process, ensuring that you are always acting in line with employment law. We can also help you if you are facing a claim for unfair dismissal.

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