Redundancy Legal Advice For Employers

Redundancy is a form of dismissal. A business may consider redundancy when they wish to reduce the number of its employees.

Redundancy should not be used to replace one employee for another but only when the job is no longer required.

When an employee is made redundancy, the employer may have to provide;

• redundancy pay
• a notice period
• a consultation process with the employees
• options to move to a different role
• time off to find a new position

When choosing which employees to make redundant the employer should ensure that the process is fair.

There are a few common methods such as

• Last in, first out
• Asking for counters
• Looking at an employee’s disciplinary records
• Doing a review of each employee’s skills and qualifications.

If you do not select which employees are to be made redundant in a fair method then an employee may bring a claim for unfair dismissal. This can be through the employment tribunal. Defending an employment tribunal on this basis can be expensive.

Some of the characteristics which might be considered unfair include;

• Sex/gender
• Marital status
• Sexual orientation
• Race
• Disability
• Religion or belief
• Age
• Your 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
• An employee who is exercising statutory rights
• Whistleblowing

There are other reasons which also might be considered unfair and this is by no means an exhaustive list.

If you are considering making some employees redundant at your business we would recommend that in the first instance that you seek advice. It may be that you can avoid a redundancy situation.

Lovedays Solicitors has been acting for business in Matlock, Wirksworth and the surrounding areas for over 100 years. Our team to Employment Solicitors will be able to advise you in the best course of action for both your business and your employees.