Redundancy happens when businesses close down, relocate or need to reduce their workforce. Before making redundancies, employers are obliged to consult with their staff.
Redundancy happens when businesses close down, relocate or need to reduce their workforce. Before making redundancies, employers are obliged to consult with their staff.
If you’re being made redundant, you might be eligible for certain rights, including:
If you are the only person employed to do a particular role, and that role is no longer required, there is no need for your employer to go through a selection process though consultation will still be necessary, and your employer should still consider whether you could be moved to a different job in the company.
On the other hand, if there are 10 people doing the same job and the employer only need eight people in the future, a selection process will have to be followed.
The selection must be done in a fair way, e.g. based on your level of experience or capability to do the job.
You cannot be selected for discriminatory reasons such as age, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy etc. If you are, this could be classed as unfair dismissal and/ or discrimination. Your employer should use a fair and objective way of selecting you for redundancy.
Commonly used selection factors for redundancy include productivity, attendance, disciplinary records and experience. If your employer uses ‘last in, first out’, make sure it’s not discriminatory, for example, if it means only young people are made redundant.
Redundancy can be classed as unfair dismissal if the selection process is unfair, if the procedure followed is wrong or if it is discriminatory. Special rules apply to redundancies after the sale of a business.
For free initial advice from the Hethertons’ Employment Law Team, please give us a call on 01904 528200.
Head of Department
Assistant Solicitor
