November 2022 – Redundancies and other staff reduction measures

Before starting consultation you will need to have put  together a business case for the redundancies, identified the relevant pools of employees from which selection for redundancy will be made, and considered what selection criteria to use – that all takes time. So it is best to plan early, even if your plans change along the way.

Don’t forget that a redundancy is a type of dismissal in law, so anyone who is made redundant has the right to claim unfair dismissal (if they have at least two years’ service). That is why it is important to have a clear business case; a fair process, including objective selection criteria, and enough time for meaningful consultation.

We will be able to support you with all of this, so please contact us if you are considering making redundancies.

A good starting point would be to read our guide and Q&As on redundancy which you will find here.

(* If you are planning to make 20 or people redundant you need to comply with collective consultation requirements which are more complex, with a consultation period of at least 30 days)

However, as with any contractual measure you need to make sure you apply it reasonably. Generally that means giving as much notice as you can and making sure you “share the pain”. So you may decide to put all staff on a 4-day week rather than just selecting some to go on a 3-day week. The same applies to temporary lay-off. If you only lay-off some staff and not others, you need to be able to justify that objectively – i.e. based on the nature of the jobs they undertake or the level of skill (where that is clearly defined).

You may also find it helpful to consult with staff at an early stage if the business is struggling to see if anyone is considering retiring or if they would like to move onto part-time working. If staff know that you are looking for these sorts of solutions, they are more likely to come forward.

Another option is to consider restructuring. Now may be a good time to look at your business with fresh eyes and consider if the structure really supports your aims. It may be that by reorganising roles and tasks, that you may be able to make the business more efficient and thereby cut costs and/or increase revenue. It may still require some redundancies, but you may find the cuts do not need to be as deep as you first thought,

Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of these measures further.

• £9.50 per hour for workers aged 23 and over
• £9.18 per hour for workers aged 21 to 22
• £6.83 per hour for workers aged 18 to 20
• £4.81 per hour for workers aged 16 and 17
• £4.81 per hour for apprentices under 19 and those over 19 in their first year*

*N.B. Apprentices over 19 and who have completed at least one year are entitled to the appropriate rate for their age.