The rights and responsibilities involved when it comes to Redundancy (HTML)

Redundancy is a specific form of dismissal that happens when an employer needs to reduce the size of its workforce, so certain jobs or roles are no longer required.

In Northern Ireland, an employee is dismissed for redundancy in law when:

• The employer has ceased, or intends to cease, carrying on the business, completely or at that location, or
• The requirements for employees to perform work of a specific type, or to conduct it at the location in which they are employed, has ceased or diminished, or are expected to do so.

If the legal definition is met redundancy can also include the termination of a fixed term contract. The basic test is whether the employer requires fewer (or indeed no) employees to do a particular type of work.

There are two different types of redundancy - individual redundancy, and collective redundancy. The employer has different legal obligations, depending on what type of redundancy is being considered.

Employers should always try to avoid making redundancies or reduce the number of them and consider alternative approaches before deciding on compulsory redundancy as a final option. If there are no alternatives, then the employer should document this, and it should be discussed in an open and transparent manner with the workforce and their representatives.

Some examples of alternatives, which may help the business through a difficult time, could be:

• Seek volunteers for redundancy.
• Seek expressions of interest in early retirement.
• A recruitment freeze or natural wastage i.e. simply not replacing staff who leave.
• Stopping or reducing overtime.
• Re-training or redeployment of staff to a busier area of the business.
• Cease or reduce the reliance on agency staff and contractors.
• Temporarily lay-off employees or reduce their hours.
• Allowing unpaid career breaks or sabbaticals for a fixed period of time.

Some of the above examples may not apply to every business, however all possible alternatives should be examined as even a combination of small savings here and there cumulatively could reduce the number of redundancies which is a key part of the process. Many of these measures would be temporary, with a view to returning to normal working practices once business picks up again.

Employers may not be able to adopt some of these without potentially breaching their employees’ contracts, so they need to take care when considering alternative approaches and when necessary seek agreement with employees.

Yes, you can ask employees to put themselves forward for voluntary redundancy during a redundancy process. Employees can also volunteer for redundancy without being asked.  It is your decision over whether you will accept the volunteers, and you should follow a fair and transparent selection process and take account of the needs of your business when doing this. Redundancies made on a voluntary basis may mean you do not have to consider compulsory redundancies; however, you may need to do both depending on the numbers of redundancies you need to make. When making voluntary redundancies, you should follow the same procedures as for compulsory ones.

Consultation is a very important part of any fair redundancy process.  There should be clear communication (genuine, meaningful and in good time).  It should be a two-way process.

Employers making fewer than 20 employees redundant are legally required to have meaningful consultation with each employee.  Employers are not legally required to collectively consult with their employees in small-scale redundancy situations. However, it may be useful to do so as a first step then follow up with the individual consultation meeting.

Unlike larger-scale redundancies, there is no fixed period of consultation required. It needs to be enough to be meaningful to the particular situation.  For more information on handling redundancies in a small business see https://www.lra.org.uk/resources/advisory-guide/handling-redundancies-s…

Employers who plan to make 20 or more employees redundant over a period of 90 days or less must consult representatives of any recognised independent trade union. If there is no recognised trade union, they must consult other elected representatives of the affected employees.

Consultation should begin in good time and be completed before any redundancy notices are issued.

Consultation must begin:

• At least 30 days before the first person is made redundant, if 20 to 99 employees are to be made redundant at one place over a period of 90 days or less: or
• At least 90 days before the first person is made redundant, if 100 or more employees are to be made redundant at one place over a period of 90 days or less

Employers must ensure that they do not forget to consult employees who are on maternity leave or long-term sick leave.

There may be special reasons why an employer finds it hard to consult in the way the law says it should and a judge may look at those reasons.  Nevertheless, employers must still try their best to consult properly. When they don’t do it properly, the trade union or employee representatives could complain to an industrial tribunal.

The complaint must be either before the last redundancy is made or within three months after the last one is made.  In some circumstances, the industrial tribunal can allow a longer period for a complaint to be made.

An officer from the Labour Relations Agency (through Early Conciliation) may help reach a solution before the case goes to an industrial tribunal.  If a settlement is not reached and the tribunal finds in favour of the union, a ‘protective award’ may be made to the employees concerned.