Managing Redundancies

We may at some point find ourselves in an inevitable situation whereby redundancies are on the cards. It may have been something you have but putting off for a period of time but the time has come when you now need to take appropriate action. Before doing so you will need to have considered whether redundancies are necessary and whether any other options might be available.

Following the correct process is key. When restructuring, you will need to firstly check your internal policies and whether there are any collective agreements in place with a Trade Union.

Any process you follow must be fair and you must consult with your employees. You should also make a clear redundancy plan.
Electing employee representatives and working with a Trade Union is a good idea when considering your plan:-

Your redundancy plan should include:

• all the options you’ve considered before deciding redundancies might still be needed
• the number of redundancies you’re considering
• keeping staff informed and supported throughout the process
• consulting all employees affected, including those off work, for example on maternity or sick leave
• timeframes, for example to leave enough time for consultation
• agreeing on fair selection criteria
• whether redundancy pay and notice periods would be statutory or contractual
• an appeals process for employees who think the redundancy process or their selection has been unfair.

Selecting Employees

When you select any affected employees, you need to do so in a fair way. You also cannot discriminate anyone during the redundancy process.
Where you need to make redundancies and there are employees within the same role or similar, you will need to include those employees within a pool. A scoring matrix will be needed in this scenario to ensure that you conduct a fair process and use selection criteria which is objective and measurable.

Examples of selection criteria could include:

• standard of work or performance
• skills, qualifications or expertise
• attendance record, which must be accurate and not include absences relating to disability, pregnancy or maternity
• disciplinary record.

Employee Communication and Consultation

Keeping employees informed throughout the process is essential including providing support and training for your managers.
Consultations with employees should be genuine and meaningful. In addition, if you are planning to make 20 or more employees redundant within a 90 day period, then you must consult collectively. Your policy may dictate collective consultancy regardless so do ensure that you are familiar with the same. In collective consultations you should consult with the employees’ representatives and this should be factored into your redundancy plan.

During consultation, you should discuss:

• the changes that are needed, what you propose to do, and why
• ways to avoid or make fewer redundancies
• the skills and experience needed for the future
• the criteria for selecting employees for redundancy
• any concerns employees may have.

Supporting Employees

Throughout the redundancy process you should ensure that you fully support your employees. You can do this by providing:
• counselling
• additional face-to-face meetings
• help getting financial advice
• clear plans for the future
• time off for those selected for redundancy to look for new jobs or arrange training

This is just a snapshot of managing redundancies within the workplace and for more information, please do get in touch with one of the Tamar HR team.

We are here to help!

Link: https://www.acas.org.uk/manage-staff-redundancies