Advice from Lawgistics: Redundancy Process

Date: Thursday 19 January 2023

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Consultation with the selected pool is the best practice as well as lawful. Notifying an employee of termination of employment because of redundancy without engaging in a fair process will likely be deemed unfair dismissal.

As we are all aware, it is crunch time under the cost of living crisis, not only personally for individuals but professionally for businesses too.

Recently, we have had some clients seeking to make staff redundancies within their organisation. As responsible employers, they have all sought our professional expertise regarding the redundancy process. As responsible legal professionals, we at Lawgistics, have been cogent and essential in our support and assistance throughout the process.

Our clients have proven the process is not as daunting as it may seem, especially when we are there as a legal helping hand.

Our main advice is to ensure that redundancy is genuine, and should only be considered if all or part of the organisation is:

• closing or has already closed
• changing the number of staff required to do a particular role.

However, to prevent engaging in redundancy, it is wise to consider whether you can offer voluntary redundancy, changing working hours/patterns of work, or like one client offered, moving an employee into another role where transferrable skills can be utilised effectively.

Where redundancy is the only viable option, an obvious point is to ensure a fair selection process for the pool of employees included.

Consultation with the selected pool is the best practice as well as lawful. Notifying an employee of termination of employment because of redundancy without engaging in a fair process will likely be deemed unfair dismissal by an employment tribunal.

A fair selection process must be just that… fair as well as objective and measurable. An employer’s personal opinion of the employee should be avoided at all costs. A selection process must also not be discriminatory. It is against the law to select employees for redundancy based on, for example, age, race, disability, sex, their role in a part-time position, or even for accessing family friendly policies.

Measurable and objective criteria are best. Criterion such as the following will be deemed reasonable and fair in a redundancy selection process:

• work performance
• qualifications, skills, and experience
• disciplinary records
• attendance records.

Conducting a redundancy process does not have to be daunting or complex. As our recent clients have shown, it can be straightforward and fuss free. A recent client was surprised at a voluntary redundancy, making the process even easier with no ill feelings for the individuals involved.

 

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