What course to take when making redundancies

LEGALLY BOUND by Mike Pitt, employment-law partner at Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law, Hollinwood

FROM Woolworths to Adams children’s wear to Oldham Council, redundancies are affecting large and small organisations across the borough.

Redundancies are hard for everyone concerned but the law in this area is designed to soften the blow as much as possible and to ensure that the process is carried out fairly.

Whether you are making redundant a group or only one employee, you need to operate within an objective, non-discriminatory process that you can apply consistently across the organisation.

You must write to all employees affected by the potential redundancies, setting out the reasons for possible redundancy and inviting them to a meeting to discuss the proposed dismissals. Let them know that they are entitled to have a representative — a colleague or trade-union representative — with them at the meeting.

You may need to identify a pool of candidates for possible redundancy. If so, you should consider the make-up of the pool carefully to ensure it covers all the relevant workers.

A skills matrix or other carefully chosen criterion should be formulated to select potentially redundant candidates from the pool and the criteria must be applied in an objective and reasonable fashion.

For 20 or more redundancies, you must notify the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and consult workplace representatives. You must also carry out a collective redundancy consultation. They may even result in ideas for how jobs can be preserved. Ensure you consider any alternative employment.

If you fail to find alternatives to redundancy, write again to the employees affected, confirming your decision to make their position redundant.

Ensure they are fully informed of the reasons for your decision, and of their right of appeal. Also confirm the amount of redundancy payment you owe and how you worked it out.

Do not expect to be able to dismiss employees immediately. You could walk into a minefield of costly and time-consuming problems if you fail to plan properly, in line with your legal obligations. Avoid the “last in, first out” principle and be aware that part-time employees have the same rights as full-timers.

Finally, make sure you look after the employees who are staying. Avoid the drip-drip effect of bad news and be as positive with them as you reasonably can about the security of their own jobs.