Redundancy and the consultation period, A THREAD

You've rights that employers seldom respect, so read on if you've been warned of a restructure, or that you are at risk of being made redundant... (1/)

If 20 or more employees are 'at risk', then by law your employer must CONSULT THE WORKERS. This is known as the 'consultation period'.

Most companies like to 'rush this through' and will make all kinds of BS analogies ('ripping off a plaster', etc) to justify it

If you don't have recognised union agreement, your employer must allow for employees to elect a GROUP of employee representatives.

Not just one person, a group of people. Dodgy HR departments will try for a single person, whom they can easier manipulate/ rush things through(3/)

BEFORE ANY INDIVIDUAL NOTICES OF REDUNDANCY ARE ISSUED, your employer has to inform this group of;
* the reasons for redundencies
* the numbers and descriptions of those affected
* how redundancy payments will be worked out
(4/?)

The employer must also consult 'in good faith' with the employee group on ways to
* lessen the affect of redudencies
* avoiding them
* reducing the numbers of workers' affected
(5/?)

Here is the most important bit.

The consultation period MUST take place over at LEAST 30 days (more for larger layoffs)

NOT on a Friday afternoon gaslighting session or behind closed doors in the MD's office over coffee one morning.

THIRTY (30) days. (6/?)

Repeat: individual notices of redundancy not be given until after consultation period.

If you are told 'unofficially' during this period that you'll be let go, your employer are breaking the law.

If you get a notice before the end of the period, you have a case for tribunal(7/)

During the consultation period, you should press your employer strongly for:
* increased redundancy pay (they can afford it)
* early pension deals
* asking for volunteers
* help with £££ for training and job search
(8/?)

Employers may select workers for redundancy, but they cannot discriminate based on sex, race, age, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP.

Push your employers to disclose how they've selected, and show their working! They cannot refuse! (9/?)

Sadly, employers need only pay employees that have worked at the company more than 2 years redundancy pay.

But the above process still must be followed.

Once notice is issued, you are entitled (at minimum) to 1 week's pay for every year you've worked at the employer (10/11).

Conc:

It's a complex process and many employers will take the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to restructure in ways that shift the risk of enterprise onto the employees and away from investors.

Dodgy redundancy processes are just 1 of the tools in this bag of tricks(11/11).