Do you have a legitimate redundancy situation?

Do you have a legitimate redundancy situation?

Redundancy is a type of dismissal when a role is no longer required.

Redundancy only applies to those with the legal status of employee.

You should only consider making redundancies if part or all of the organisation is:

• closing, or has already closed

• changing the types or number of roles needed to do certain work

• changing location

If you have concerns about an employee’s conduct or performance, you need to follow a disciplinary procedure not a redundancy.

When considering making redundancies, your first step should be to check:

• why you think redundancies are necessary

• what issues you're trying to solve

• other options that might be available

Look at other options

Before starting a redundancy process, you should consider ways to reduce, or avoid having to make, redundancies.

For example, you could see if you can:

• offer voluntary redundancy

• change working hours

• move employees into other roles

• let go of temporary or contract workers

• limit or stop overtime

• not hire any new employees

Avoid discrimination

If you do give the option of voluntary redundancy, you:

• should offer it as widely as possible, not necessarily just to those at risk of redundancy

• should not pressure or single anyone out

• must select employees in a fair way

This can avoid the risk of indirect discrimination. For example, it could be age discrimination if you only select older employees.

Change working hours

There could be ways for you to save costs by having employees work more flexibly.

You should always talk with employees and try to reach agreement first.

For example, you could offer employees:

• home working

• job shares

• to work fewer hours

If it's written in their employment contracts, you can tell employees that they need to:

• stop working for a while (known as a 'temporary lay-off')

• work fewer hours (known as 'short-time' working)

Lay-offs and short-time working are temporary solutions and must not be a permanent change to agreed working hours.

If you're considering changing an employee's contract

You usually need to agree changes to employment contracts with employees.

You must consult with them to try to agree. They do not have to accept.

Move employees into other parts of the organisation

You should see if you can move employees into different areas of your organisation ('redeploy') to avoid redundancies.

For example, by consulting with employees and appropriate representatives about:

• what transferable skills employees have

• if there are other vacant or new roles in the organisation that require those skills

Once you have exhausted all of these options and still believe that the only path forward is redundancy, Redundly is here ot help you make it as smooth as possible.