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Workplace Redundancy Guide

Being made redundant means your employer is dismissing you from your job. As a rule, staff redundancies occur when there is a need to reduce the company workforce.

REASONS FOR REDUNDANCIES:

There are various ‘genuine’ reasons to make staff redundant from work such as:

  • Your job becomes unnecessary due to new type of technology or a different working system.
  • The job position that your company hired you for no longer exists in their workplace.
  • Reducing staff volume is a necessity to lower operating costs.
  • The need for moving the business location or closing down the organisation altogether.

Despite all these valid reasons, employers have responsibilities to treat their employees fairly. In some cases, there may be alternatives to employee redundancies.

Individual redundancy takes place if an employer lays off less than 20 staff at one establishment. A collective redundancy is making 20 or more employees redundant at the same establishment within a 90 day period.

But, they must follow the correct redundancy process any time they make staff redundant. This guide provides an overview of employee rights for those who are facing a layoff from work.


Redundancies at Work Explained

Handing Your Notice

The notice period and payment arrangements are vital parts of handing in your notice. Check what things an employee should consider before resigning from a job.


Making Staff Redundant

Small-Scale Redundancies

Employers must follow several important rules when they are making staff redundant. Arranging proper consultations and issuing notice periods are part of redundancy regulations.

Staff Layoffs

Employers sometimes struggle to find enough labour for all the workforce. That means you could get laid off or given short-time working hours.

Voluntary Redundancy

Non-compulsory redundancy is essentially the same as voluntary redundancy. But they both follow a different set of rules to compulsory redundancies.

Redundancy Consultations

Employers have a legal right to proper redundancy consultation during the deliberations. Employers must consult with their employees before making any redundancies.


Redundancy Pay

Claim for Redundancy

Use the government website to make a claim for redundancy or monies owed. The service is also for those who lost their job because their employer became insolvent.

Employer Calculator

Age, weekly pay, and the number of years worked in the job determines statutory redundancy pay. But, you only qualify after working at least 2 full years for your employer.

Note: You can calculate your statutory redundancy pay as an employee. The government online tool also lets employers calculate redundancy pay amounts for their employees.


Support and Advice

Jobcentre Plus

You can get support and advice through the Rapid Response Service at your local office of Jobcentre Plus. They also provide on-site support for large scale redundancies.

Redundancy support gets delivered through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment in Scotland. The same service is available through the ReAct scheme in Wales.


Redundancies Guide: How to Make an Employee Redundant