Five things you might not know about redundancy
We often receive enquiries from people who are worried about redundancy. With so much in the news about firms entering administration, restructures, reorganisations and workplace closures, our employment lawyer Haylee Chambers has put together this list of five things you may not know about redundancy. Whatever your situation, we always recommend that employees seek legal advice at an early stage — you can contact us using the form below.
More businesses going bust means more redundancies. It’s important to have the facts on what redundancy means and how a firm should act.
- Employees are made redundant when either your business or workplace closes or the company reduces its number of staff.
- Employers have a duty to consult when making more than 20 staff redundant. If they don’t, you can make a claim for up to 90 days’ pay. This is called a protective award and is claimed through the Employment Tribunal. We specialise in these claims, so contact us if this applies to you.
- Employers should identify the correct pool for redundancy selection, consult with said employees individually, apply appropriate selection criteria and consider suitable alternative employment. Failure to do so could make any dismissal unfair.
- Employers should consider alternatives to redundancy, including inviting employees to apply for voluntary redundancy or early retirement or asking staff to take a pay cut/reduction in hours to save the business/avoid redundancies.
- Employees with more than 2 years’ service are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. These payments are based on age and length of service. Some employees may have a contractual right to enhanced redundancy pay, and it’s always worth checking your contract for this.
Author: Haylee Chambers, Associate Solicitor, Employment
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