Redundancy Consultation Meeting

A redundancy consultation meeting is a key part of the redundancy process. If you do not properly consult your employees in a redundancy situation, any subsequent redundancies will likely be deemed unfair, and an affected employee may commence tribunal proceedings against you for unfair dismissal.

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What Is A Redundancy Consultation Meeting?

A redundancy consultation meeting is your chance to discuss the issues giving rise to the potential need for redundancies with the affected employees and listen to their opinions. If you do not hold a redundancy consultation meeting, or if the redundancy consultation meetings are a sham, affected employees could issue unfair dismissal proceedings against you. Crucially, if you hold the redundancy consultation meetings after you have already decided to make redundancies, your process may be unfair.

The rules regarding redundancy consultations differ depending on the number of redundancies you intend to make.

• Redundancy Consultation Meeting Rules If You Are Planning 20 Or More Redundancies

If you plan to make 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period at the same establishment, you must ‘collectively consult’. A ‘single establishment’ for these purposes may either be your entire organisation or a distinct part of it. For example, if your organisation runs a number of separate sites, each of which manages its own workforce and has its own equipment and organisational structure, it may be deemed a ‘single establishment’.

Collective consultation must involve representatives of the affected employees. Affected employees are those at risk of redundancy and any others whose roles may change as a result of your proposals. If the affected employees are members of a trade union, you should consult with representatives of that trade union. If they are not, you can consult with employees who have been nominated to speak on behalf of the others for the purposes of the consultation.

Your collective consultation must start a minimum of 30 days before the first redundancy. If 100 or more employees are likely to face dismissal, the consultation must commence at least 45 days before the first redundancy. These time periods are intended to allow sufficient time for the consultations to be meaningful.

• Redundancy Consultation Meeting Rules If You Are Planning Less Than 20 Redundancies

If your redundancy proposals affect less than 20 employees, there are no strict legal requirements you must follow. However, you should still consult with your employees on an individual basis. It can be good practice to collectively consult even when not legally required to do so, to ensure the process is fair.

What Happens At A Redundancy Consultancy Meeting?

During a redundancy consultation meeting, you must share all pertinent information relating to your proposals with the affected employees or their representatives. Examples of the types of matters you may need to cover include the following:

The changes that are required and the business need for those changes. For example, you may be relocating, changing your processes, or discontinuing a specific product.
Your proposals and the reasoning behind them.
The number of employees potentially affected by your redundancy proposals.
How you propose selecting employees for redundancy. You must select the employees fairly and explain the criteria you propose using. That criteria might include an employee’s skill set, performance, and disciplinary record.
How you propose carrying out the redundancies.
The skills and experience you anticipate the business needing going forward.
How you might avoid redundancies or make fewer redundancies.
Any possible alternatives to redundancy. For example, you might discuss the possibility of job shares, reduced hours, or flexible working where practicable.
How you propose calculating any enhanced redundancy payments.
How you can mitigate the consequences of redundancy on those affected. This might include supporting them with extra training, updating their CVs, and allowing them time off for job interviews.

Your employees’ perspectives of their roles within the business may differ from yours, and they may have valuable suggestions about how you may reduce the number of redundancies required or avoid making redundancies altogether. The purpose of redundancy consultation is to reach agreement where possible. This necessitates a constructive two-way dialogue and, whilst you are not obliged to agree to your employees’ suggestions, you must listen to and seriously consider them.

Making employees redundant can be a minefield, full of traps for the unwary. By taking expert HR and employment law advice from HR specialists like ours, you can ensure your redundancy process is fair and lawful and minimise the chances of unfair dismissal claims