Planning a Redundancy Decision

Even in the best of times, no one wants to have to make valuable staff redundant. Nobody likes to be told that their business can no longer afford to hire them. Covid-19 is a major game-changer and UKFT knows that some companies are going to have to make difficult decisions to survive and protect as many jobs as they can. Some will also need different skills in their business, or a different skill mix.

To help those companies and their staff, we have prepared some guidance notes to help them through the redundancy process. The notes explain the procedure to be followed so that the redundancy is handled properly for both the company and the employee.

10 points to consider when making redundancies

1. Only jobs are made redundant, not people.
2. The definition of redundancy is that there is “no longer a requirement for the job, or a diminution of the people required to do it” (i.e. the job has disappeared or it is spread among existing employees)
3. How many employees are affected? If there are 20 or more then there are minimum periods of consultation that must be followed.
4. All redundancies, even one, require consultation before any decision is made.
5. All consultation meetings (even by telephone or Zoom etc) should be witnessed and documented.
6. If a job is unique ensure it can be proved to be unique. A unique job title would not be enough.
7. Decide on pool of workers from which selection will be made and ensure this pool can be defended as correct.
8. If selection is required (for example where more than one employee is doing the same job) ensure there is consultation on the selection and allow time to make changes to the selection criteria.
9. If some selection is done by marking, ensure there is no bias by having more than one marker with no collusion between markers.
10. Once an individual has been potentially selected through the system do not make a final decision until you have held another consultation meeting with the individual and further consideration has been given.

UKFT members can access further help and support, including help on redundancies and furlough, from our Employment Advisor and members can also access a copy of the following guidance:

• UKFT Redundancy Procedure
• UKFT Redundancy Checklist
• UKFT Redundancy Ready Reckoner

UKFT is in constant dialogue with the government and is outlining the latest support available for businesses on our website. We will update the details as and when the situation changes.