Redundancy Law Solicitors for Employers

Redundancy law is one of those areas where it’s very easy for an employer to go wrong and make a costly mistake.

An employer must always consult in any redundancy situation. Firstly, you should look at possible alternatives to redundancy. Our experienced specialist employment solicitors can advise you on potential alternatives and whether they are likely to work in the particular situation you face. You should consider any suggestion your employees come up with. You never know it might just work!

Often, employees have seen it coming for a while and have been thinking about possible solutions. Sometimes they are in a good position to know the answer. Even if nobody finds an alternative to redundancy, they’re more likely to believe you genuinely tried and, therefore, less likely to make a claim for unfair dismissal if you end up making them redundant. That’s what our experience tells us.

You might want to ask for volunteers. That’s not always a straightforward or easy choice. There are pros and cons, so let us use our specialist experience to help you make the right decision for the future of your business.

Then, if you are considering making 20 or more people redundant, you need to consult their representatives. That’s called “collective consultation” and it can get particularly tricky because the rules and regulations are complex. If you fail to follow them, you may have to pay each employee 90 days pay. However, the experienced employment solicitors at Carter Moore can guide you through the process, so that you get it right and avoid costly claims.

You should always consult each individual that you’re considering making redundant. A failure of individual consultation will render each dismissal unfair. You must establish a fair selection process which is as objective as possible. The problem here is that some of the obvious, apparently objective, criteria might well be discriminatory on grounds of age and/ or sex.

Finally, you should always consider alternative employment. Never assume that the employee won’t be interested, even if the alternative pays much less and/ or is a long way away. It’s always best to ask them.

Our experienced redundancy law solicitors can guide you through even the most complicated redundancy or restructuring process. With the right advice, you’ll be able to achieve your objectives for your business, even in these challenging economic times.

One thing to bear in mind is that there is no such thing as a standard redundancy situation, so we don’t give standard advice; we give the advice that’s appropriate to your situation and what you want to achieve. And don’t forget we’re qualified, experienced, specialist employment solicitors, not the unqualified consultants that some companies use.