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Redundancy - your legal rights & facts

Redundancy facts - you are not alone!

The National Office for Statistics produce figures relative to redundancy going back to 1997. You may be surprised to know how many people do get made redundant even in apparently stable times - on average roughly 2000 people every working day! Given the current economic conditions that number remains unpleasantly high. 

How does the redundancy process work?

Every organisation has its own way of going about redundancy selection and communication, calculating payments, post redundancy support (see the page on outplacement) and so on. There are, however, laws they have to abide by and standards of best practice they are advised to follow, not least because of the risks to their organisation of being involved with a badly implemented redundancy programme. The bigger firms will usually have a strict protocol and support programmes to follow, others may have a slightly more fluid approach especially if they are unused to carrying out such procedures. To find out what could or ought to happen to you, check out some or all of these information sources.

• Ask your HR representative - when it comes to finding out what is going on in your company your HR dept contact should be able to supply you with the information you need regarding procedures, severance pay and conditions etc. However, we appreciate that this might not always be possible and you will want to consult alternative sources.
• Ask your Trade Union representative - if you are a member of a Trade Union, then naturally your Union Representative should be able to help you. If not the acas website has excellent advice guides and up to date information on best practice redundancy handling.
• Go to the Department of Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) website - the redundancy site pages listed below are an excellent resource for finding out what is supposed to happen and, although it is more employer than employee biased, it pays to know exactly what your employer should actually be doing by law. There is also a comprehensive chapter on this topic in the New Life Handbook featured below.
• Get Legal Advice - Lawyers can be very expensive, although some do operate on a no-win, no-fee basis, so do check out the Department of Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) site legal pages before you go looking for advice that you could have found out for yourself. If you do need to find a lawyer to advise you, then you must make sure that you pick one who has some experience in this regard. They will be able to tell you if you really have a case for legal action. You can find a lawyer via your local Citizens Advice Bureau - they will know who the most appropriate firms are locally even if you don't. The CAB offices are generally really helpful and staffed by very nice people, often volunteers. Alternatively, to find someone to represent you, or explain your rights, you could go directly to The Law Society for England and Wales or ScotLaw for Scotland in the directory below. If you are asked to sign a compromise agreement (an agreement which essentially signs away your right to take your employer to a tribunal later or disclose the details of your redundancy) by your employer, then they must pay all reasonable legal fees.

The worst job of all

• It is truly awful to be on the receiving end of a redundancy notice. However outwardly calm anyone informing you of your redundancy may appear, they won't be feeling that calm inside. Terminating someone's employment, particularly someone you may have considered a friend or have known for a long time, is very unpleasant indeed.
• In a humanely run redundancy procedure, care should be given to the timing, location (preferably a neutral one), content and the practical consequences of communicating information about redundancy.
• Often the process of being made redundant can be so emotionally charged, that the best thing you can do is leave calmly once you have been notified so that you can collect your thoughts. Always make sure that you have a contact to follow up on any questions you might have afterwards.
• The law requires employees be given paid time off to look for work during the final notice period, so do make sure that use this time wisely and consult all the job hunting resources on this site.

Our book Rebuilding your life after redundancy contains a full listing of your rights, information about compromise agreements and much more.
You can buy a copy directly from the publishers for £10.99 plus p&p by clicking here or via amazon here.

Useful Resources - If you find any other helpful sources of information on this topic please contact us and we'll publish it for the benefit of others.

acas Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) aims to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations. They provide up-to-date information, independent advice,...

Citizens Advice Bureau Advice that makes the difference. The Citizens Advice Bureau service has been helping people to resolve their money, legal and other problems since 1939. It is the largest...

Direct.gov.uk - employment matters The Directgov website is currently the source of all official information on employment matters including redundancy and they also have a sub-site on careers advice careersadvice.direct.gov.uk .

Get the 2009 edition of "Rebuilding your life after redundancy" by Janet Davies - only £10.99 ORDER your copy at amazon.co.uk here ! ...

Jobcentre Plus THIS WEBSITE WILL BE CLOSING AT THE END OF MARCH 2010 Content for customers will be found at Directgov www.direct.gov.uk Information for employers will be at Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk...

ScotLaw Find a Solicitor in Scotland

The Insolvency Service Helplines For general enquiries about insolvency, workers can call the Insolvency Service Helpline on 0845 602 9848 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday). For queries about redundancy, call the Redundancy...

The Law Society Find a Solicitor in England or Wales.