Is my redundancy legal?

Employers need to meet the following requirements to ensure redundancies they make are lawful:

• Advanced warning

The employer must inform all employees who are at risk of redundancy of the possibility of redundancy. This includes employees on maternity or sick leave.

• Selection pool

The employer should draw up selection criteria and ensure all employees are assessed objectively. This is to avoid any potential discrimination claim.

• Consultation stage

Employers must consult with all employees who could be affected by the redundancy. If an employer plans to make more than 20 employees redundant in a period of 90 days; the employer is under a duty to carry out collective consultations. The employer cannot give notice until they have completed the consultation stage.

• Alternative roles

Employers must demonstrate they have made a genuine effort to find other suitable roles for the employees in question. These alternative roles can be within the same company or within an associate company if the employer operates a group of companies.

• Settlement Agreements

The parties will enter a settlement bringing the employment period to an end. The agreement must be fair and both parties should act reasonably given the circumstances.

If the employer does not follow these steps, they risk exposing themselves to unfair redundancy claims.