Redundancy is one of the most traumatic events an employee may experience and announcing redundancies in your business, regardless of it’s size,  will invariably have an adverse impact on morale, motivation and productivity.

This week’s post outlines key considerations in determining whether or not redundancies are necessary and provides an overview of the various steps involved should the need for redundancies be identified.

In order to plan and implement a redundancy situation properly, the following stages should be followed in most redundancies:

1. invitation of volunteers
2. consultation, both collective and individual
3. identification of a pool for selection
4. notification of large-scale redundancies (more than 20 employees) to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) (formerly DTI)
5. use of objective selection criteria and compliance with all three stages of statutory dismissal procedures
6. advance notice of individual consultation meeting
7. permitting a colleague to be present at consultation meetings
8. opportunity to appeal
9. allowing seeking of suitable alternative employment
10. statutory or other redundancy payment
11. relocation expenses
12. helping redundant employees obtain training or alternative work.

The exact procedure will vary depending on the size of business and the number of redundancies being made.  Whenever possible, alternatives should be fully exhausted before proceeding with redundancies.  These alternatives include:

* natural wastage
* recruitment freeze
* stopping or reducing overtime
* offer early retirement to volunteers (subject to age discrimination issues)
* retraining or redeployment
* offering existing employees sabbaticals and secondments.

If after carefully looking at all alternatives the need for redundancies has been identified, offering a voluntary redundancy package and then seeking willing redundancy volunteers may avoid compulsory redundancies altogether.

If voluntary redundancy packages are unable to resolve the situation, the business will need to proceed with involuntary redundancies and must ensure it carefully follows the correct procedures and complies fully with current legislation to avoid any potential issues down the line.

In next week’s post I’ll talk about consultation and selection and cover all of the key things employers need to know and do to avoid creating further problems in an already difficult situation.

Are you having to consider making redundancies in your business but aren’t sure where to start or are you concerned about your degree of compliance with current employment legislation?  Why not check the HR Health of your business now using our FREE online HR Health Check. Alternatively, feel free to contact us today and we’ll be happy to help!