Welcome to the Redundancy Section for employers, here you'll find lots of interesting and useful information regarding disciplinary procedures.

Redundancy Home
Introduction
Legal Requirements
Information to be supplied to Unions and Employee Representatives
Group Redundancies
Issuing of Notices of Termination
Appeals
Redundancy Calculations

Appeals

Any employee may appeal against the decision to dismiss them for redundancy and/ or failure to follow the redundancy procedure, including the application of the redundancy selection criteria. The intention to appeal must be submitted in writing to a Human Resources Representative normally within 5 working days of being informed of the decision to dismiss for redundancy stating the reasons for appealing.

The employee will be invited to an appeal hearing normally within 10 working days of receipt of the letter of appeal where they will have an opportunity to explain why they are appealing and present any new evidence in support of their appeal. The employee has the right to be accompanied at the appeal hearing by a colleague or trade union or employee representative. A member of HR will attend the appeal hearing along with the manager hearing the appeal, who will not previously have been involved in the redundancy selection. The outcome of the appeal will be confirmed in writing and sent to the employee normally within 5 working days. The decision is final.

Right to be accompanied

Employees have right to be accompanied by a trade union or employee representative or colleague at any consultation meeting and any appeal meeting. 

Alternative Work

The company will consider whether there is any alternative work available for the employee within the Group. The manager should not make assumptions about what kind of work and pay scale the employee is willing to do.

The Redeployment Policy and Procedure gives more detail about alternative work and the implications on their entitlement for redundancy pay if an employee unreasonably refuses an offer of suitable alternative work.

Giving Counter-Notice

Sometimes employees who are under notice of redundancy find another job which they wish to go to before their notice with the Company expires. W here an employer has given actual notice of dismissal for redundancy, an employee may not want to work their notice because they have found another job. In order not to lose their redundancy money they must give counter-notice to the employer.

  The counter-notice must be:

The employer has a right of refusal. (There are particular requirements re the contents of refusing the employee's request and advice should be sought from an HR Representative before issuing such a notice).

Line Manager Support

There are in-house support services for Line Managers as it is acknowledged that Line Managers may have little or no experience in dealing with the sensitive situation of downsizing/closure:

Management Skills Training

There are many professional organisations that can provide assistance for Line Managers faced with this difficult situation. The Human Resources Department will arrange the appropriate coaching workshops. It is therefore essential that the Human Resources Department is notified at the earliest opportunity of any downsizing/closure. This allows planning and preparation time for Line Managers and Human Resources to cope with the forthcoming situation.

Counselling

Occupational Health is available to provide counselling support for those employees who may need it. For further details contact the Human Resources Department.

Human Resources Department

In a reduction of workforce situation the Human Resources Department takes a pivotal role in ensuring that the selection process is managed within the boundaries of best HR practice and the law. It is the decision of the Human Resources Department to involve external consultancy services to assist the process, according to circumstances. The involvement of any external consultancy services should take place as early as possible.

The Human Resources Department is accountable for retaining full documentation/selection notes for each individual employee for a period of three years.

The Human Resources Department is responsible for co-ordinating redeployment activities, including the provision of independent consultants if the circumstances so dictate.

In the event that an employee prefers to not to work their notice period, they should make a request in writing to the Human Resources Manager. Employees who decide not to work their notice period will not be eligible for the redeployment process and therefore seriously limit their opportunity to seek alternative employment within the Company.

The Human Resources Department is responsible for co-ordinating the administration associated with final redundancy payments and termination of employment. 

Discrimination and Redundancy

Disabled Employees

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 stipulates that the employer is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments in favour of the disabled employee, unless any discrimination can be justified. The necessary action to be taken by the employer may include transferring the disabled person to an existing vacancy to accommodate rather than dismiss a disabled person. This duty represents positive discrimination in favour of the disabled person. Any selection method for redundancy must not discriminate against disabled employees. The line manager must consider whether a reasonable adjustment would enable a disabled employee to meet the criterion.

Pregnant Employees or Employees on Maternity Leave

Selecting a pregnant woman or a woman on maternity leave for redundancy will be sex discrimination and automatically unfair if the reason for selection is because of her pregnancy. Please see the Family Leave and Benefits Policy for further details. Advice should always be sought from an HR Advisor if any potentially redundant employee is pregnant or on maternity leave.

Any employee who subsequently feels that the agreed selection criteria have been unfairly applied may appeal against the decision using the appeal process as described below.